PHOTO: Tami Quan
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – Jackson Kyrkostas netted his second hat trick of the season as the West Kelowna Warriors earned their seventh consecutive victory in a 7-3 win over the Vernon Vipers on Sunday afternoon at Royal LePage Place.
An offensive explosion in the opening period saw the Warriors score four times in the first 20 minutes of play which included Jack Pridham getting things going at the 2:06 mark of the frame to give West Kelowna a 1-0 advantage.
Streaming off the bench, Pridham swooped in and took the puck off of a Viper forward before going to the net and finishing from his forehand to his backhand and beating Vipers goaltender Colin Reay for his 9th goal of the season just 2:06 into the contest to give the Warriors a 1-0 edge.
Isaiah Norlin and the West Kelowna power play extended the lead in the opening frame to a pair of goals at the 6:24 mark with a shot through traffic. Norlin let a shot go from the blue line with a great screen provided in front by Cal Hughes that took the eyes of Reay away and snuck through the blocker side for his 6th goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.
Later in the period, Michael Salandra pushed the Warriors ahead by a trio of goals at the 15:47 mark, taking advantage of another Vipers turnover inside of the offensive zone. Salandra picked off an errant pass from a Viper defender and went to the net before flipping a backhand shot over the glove side of Reay for his 8th goal of the season and put the Warriors ahead by a 3-0 margin.
Before the period came to an end, Jackson Kyrkostas capped off a four-goal opening frame with his 11th goal of the season with 52 seconds remaining in the period. Viggo Nordström came down the left wing side and centered a pass for Kyrkostas, who beat Reay from the front of the net to push the home side ahead by a four-goal margin at 4-0.
The Vipers came back with a strong push in the second period and it was the Vernon native Erik Pastro who got the Vipers on the scoresheet. Anthony Cliche left the puck at the high slot as Pastro sent a shot through traffic and past the glove side of Warriors netminder Rorke Applebee to make it a 4-1 game at the 3:05 mark of the middle frame.
Adam Csabi cut the deficit to two goals with his marker at the 10:45 mark of the 2nd period on a one-time drive, taking a pass from Cliche in the right face-off circle and ripping a shot past Applebee on the blocker side to make it a 4-2 game with the Warriors outshooting the Vipers by a 27-15 margin after 40 minutes of action.
The Warriors added three more goals in the final period with Felix Caron earning his team-leading 16th marker of the 1:53 mark of the 3rd frame to get ahead by a 5-2 margin. Caron took a pass from Eliot Compton in the right face-off circle and beat Reay underneath the left pad to give the Warriors a three-goal edge.
A Vernon power play lasted just 8 seconds and helped the Vipers get back within a pair of goals as Nick Mikan found a loose puck at the side of the net and popped a shot past the glove side of Applebee to make the score 5-3 before West Kelowna finished out the scoring with a pair of goals later in the game, both from Jackson Kyrkostas.
The Warriors forward took a feed from Nordström and cut down the left wing to the slot where he ripped a shot past the blocker side of Reay for his second goal of the game at the 7:23 mark before finishing off the hat trick with one minute remaining in the game to complete his second hat trick of the season and cap off a Warriors 7-3 victory.
Rorke Applebee earned his seventh consecutive win in net and his 12th win of the season between the pipes with 22 saves on 25 shots while Colin Reay made 29 saves on 36 shots in his 1st loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 7-3 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 36-25 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 1/4
WARRIORS PK: 2/3
3 STARS:
1) Jackson Kyrkostas (3-0-3)
2) Johannes Løkkeberg (0-3-3)
3) Viggo Nordström (0-2-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Isaiah Norlin (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 891
The Warriors (17-6-2-0) head on the road for a pair of games in the final week before the holiday break beginning on Wednesday night when they travel to the Shuswap to take on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (16-7-0-1) at the Shaw Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed on FloHockey.
