PHOTO: Martin Ross
CRANBROOK, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors got a 3rd period goal from Michael Salandra but it was not enough as they fell to the Cranbrook Bucks by a 3-1 score on Friday night at Western Financial Place.
Despite no score being had in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Warriors played a very strong road game and surrendered just 5 shots on their goaltender Cayden Hamming in a 1st period that didn’t have much in the way of chances.
The Warriors were able to generate some opportunities and registered the period’s final 6 shots on goal, tallying 11 on target in the opening frame on Bucks netminder Nathan Airey but the game remained a 0-0 tie heading into the 2nd period.
The Bucks brought a strong attack in the 2nd period, outshooting the Warriors by a 13-4 margin in the middle frame and breaking the ice with the go-ahead goal at the 2:55 mark courtesy of Blake Cotton.
Cranbrook controlled the puck in the offensive end as Donovan Frias collected in the right face-off circle and sent a pass to the blocker side of Hamming with a streaking Cotton going to the goal as he redirected the puck into the net to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.
On their second power play of the game, the Bucks jumped ahead by a pair of goals as Cameron Kungle doubled the Cranbrook lead. Jack Silich got a pass at the top of the left face-off circle and sent a shot to the net with Kungle getting a piece of the shot and deflecting it past Hamming early in the man advantage at the 15:24 mark of the middle frame and gave his squad a 2-0 lead.
West Kelowna opened the 3rd period with good pressure and continued what they had done in the opening period of the game, getting shots through to Airey and keeping the puck inside of the offensive zone before a power play spurred a marker to cut the deficit to one goal.
Isaiah Norlin held the puck at the mid-point and slid a pass to the top of the right face-off circle as Michael Salandra gathered and dragged to the top of the circle before letting a shot go that snuck underneath of the blocker of a screened Airey for his 11th goal of the season at the 7:23 mark of the final period to get the Warriors on the scoresheet and within a goal at 2-1.
Just following the media timeout, a unfortunate bounce against the Warriors gave the Bucks their two-goal lead back again at the 12:40 mark of the 3rd period. Bauer Morrissey sent a shot off the end boards as it bounced in front with an open Donovan Frias awaiting in the slot as he buried past an unsuspecting Hamming to give Cranbrook a 3-1 edge.
The Bucks locked down the remainder of the game in the defensive zone as the Warriors fell by a 3-1 score. Cayden Hamming made a few big stops and turned aside 25 of the 28 shots thrown his way in his 1st regulation loss of the season while Nathan Airey made 24 saves on 25 shots against in his 15th win of the season between the pipes.
FINAL SCORE: 3-1 Bucks
SHOTS ON GOAL: 28-25 Bucks
WARRIORS PP: 1/5
WARRIORS PK: 2/3
3 STARS:
1) Cameron Kungle (1-0-1)
2) Blake Cotton (1-0-1)
3) Michael Salandra (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Luke Pfoh (0-0-0)
ATTENDANCE: 2,043
The Warriors (21-11-4-0) will continue their weekend road trip in their first visit to the Shuswap to take on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (18-14-3-1) on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM from the Shaw Centre with the game being broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed online at BCHLTV.ca.
