PHOTO: Tami Quan
WEST KELOWNA, BC. – The West Kelowna Warriors suffered a Game 1 defeat to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the opening game of their best-of-seven Interior Conference Semi Final
Both goaltenders were the stars of the game in the early going through the opening 20 minutes as Matthew DellaRusso turned aside each of the 11 shots thrown his way in a strong opening period for him in net while Eli Pulver stopped the 5 shots he faced to keep the game scoreless.
The best chance to score ended up not creating a shot with Warriors captain Brennan Nelson taking a Dylan Krayer pass in the middle of the ice and cutting in on a partial breakaway, snapping his shot from the slot low and wide on the glove side of Pulver as the game remained scoreless at 0-0.
As the Silverbacks brought more pressure, they were able break the ice with the game’s opening goal courtesy of their captain Nathan Mackie. Salmon Arm moved in on the right side off the rush as Ryan Gillespie sent a pass from below the goal line to the right face-off circle where Mackie had his shot beat DellaRusso on the glove side to give the Silverbacks a 1-0 lead at the 5:20 mark of the middle stanza.
Salmon Arm outshot West Kelowna by a 16-9 margin in the 2nd period and took a 2-0 lead at the 13:48 mark of the 2nd period on a chance at the front of the net after a save by DellaRusso saw the puck trickle past him as Riley Ashe finished the play on the goal line to give Salmon Arm a 2-0 lead.
The Silverbacks solidified the result of Game 1 with a four-goal 3rd period including Patrick Raftery, who collected a rebound at the front of the net of DellaRusso on a Mackie shot to give the visitors a 3-0 lead and a change of goaltenders for West Kelowna as affiliate player Kaden Clegg made his first appearance in the BC Hockey League.
Ryan Gillepsie added to the lead with a re-direct of a Tristan Allen shot from the right point that beat Clegg on the blocker side before Viggo Nordström slapped home his 4th goal of the playoffs at 16:22 of the 3rd period to get the Warriors on the board and make the game 4-1.
Tanner Walos found an empty net as the Warriors attempted a late game comeback before Maddux Martin finished the scoring with one minute remaining in the game to finish as the final score of 6-1 in favour of the Silverbacks.
Matthew DellaRusso turned aside 28 of the 31 shots thrown his way in his 4th loss of the playoffs while affiliate player Kaden Clegg came on and made 6 saves on 8 shots in relief. Eli Pulver stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced in earning his 5th win of the postseason.
FINAL SCORE: 6-1 Silverbacks
SHOTS ON GOAL: 40-22 Silverbacks
WARRIORS PP: 0/2
WARRIORS PK: 4/4
3 STARS:
1) Nathan Mackie (1-1-2)
2) Ryan Gillespie (1-1-2)
3) Eli Pulver (21 saves on 22 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Eliot Compton (0-0-0)
ATTENDANCE: 1,023
West Kelowna and Salmon Arm will face-off in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Interior Conference Semi Final series on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office, open one hour ahead of the opening face-off.
