WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors overcame a three-goal 1st period deficit but ultimately fell by a 7-4 score to the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
Prince George started the offensive attack quickly and jumped on the Warriors early in the opening period, scoring three times in 5:02 to put the home team on their heels and it began with John Herrington scoring at the 2:21 mark of the 1st frame to give the Spruce Kings a 1-0 advantage.
Kilian McGregor-Bennett freed the puck from the right corner as he centered a pass for Herrington in front of the net as the Prince George forward collected in the right face-off circle and snapped a shot past the glove side of Warriors netminder Cayden Hamming to give the visitors an early 1-0 edge.
It was Herrington once again who would give his team a two-goal lead just 30 seconds later at the 2:51 mark of the opening frame. McGregor-Bennett sent a shot from the left point to the front of the net as Linden Makow directed the puck to the middle of the ice and Herrington was alone in front as he pushed to his backhand to slide the puck past the glove side of Hamming for his second goal of the game and a 2-0 lead.
Hunter Price concluded the scoring frenzy for Prince George to begin the game with his 1st BC Hockey League goal to give the Spruce Kings a 3-0 lead. Kai Greaves fired a shot from the right point as he got it to the front of the net where Price collected the rebound and buried a shot on the glove side of Hamming at the 5:02 mark of the opening period for a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors got the momentum back and got on the scoresheet courtesy of Brennan Nelson, who collected his 11th goal of the season. Jake Bernadet got into the offensive zone and created a chance, digging the puck free where Jaiden Moriello got to it and sent a shot to the net that went off a stick and bounced off of Nelson at the side of the net and in at the 17:57 mark of the opening frame to make the score 3-1 heading into the 2nd period.
A six-goal 2nd period, with three goals from each team, saw the Warriors get within a marker early in the middle frame just 2:37 into the period. Rylee Hlusiak got the puck in the right face-off circle and slide a shot past the blocker side of Spruce Kings goaltender Aidan Fedemma for his 17th goal of the season and got the game to a 3-2 score.
West Kelowna made their way back and tied the game at the 6:08 mark of the 2nd period as Bernadet notched his 9th tally of the season. After lifting the stick of a Spruce Kings defender, Bernadet came in on a breakaway and picked his spot past the glove side of Fedemma for the goal and got the Warriors to an even score at 3-3.
The tie did not last long, however, as the Spruce Kings had an answer just over a minute later at the 7:33 mark of the middle frame. Colton Cameron sent a shot through traffic from the left point and found its way to the back of the net to make the score 4-3 in favour of the Spruce Kings.
Just under a minute later, at the 8:22 mark of the 2nd period, Linden Makow extended the Spruce Kings lead to 5-3. Off a face-off win by Herrington, Makow got the top of the left face-off circle and sent a shot past the glove side of Hamming to push the Prince George advantage to two goals once again.
The Spruce Kings saw their lead push to three tallies for the second time in the game at the 12:14 mark of the 2nd period as Herrington completed his hat-trick on a deflection from the right face-off circle, tipping the puck over Hamming on his glove side and ended the Warrior goaltenders night with Angelo Zol coming on in relief.
Rylee Hlusiak put in a late charge for the Warriors in the 2nd period, burying his second goal of the night at the 17:26 mark for his 18th of the season. Hlusiak took a pass in the right circle on the power play and zipped a shot over the glove shoulder of Fedemma to give the Warriors some life and cut the lead to 6-4.
Fedemma was outstanding in the 3rd period, thwarting off a Warriors attack with some big stops, including a huge save off a Brennan Nelson shorthanded breakaway, which Prince George came back down the ice and extended their lead to three goals again with Makow notching his 2nd goal of the game at the 12:22 mark to make the score 7-4.
The Spruce Kings would hang on to that score with Fedemma turning aside 33 of the 37 shots thrown his way in his 5th win of the season while Cayden Hamming started the game, making 21 saves on 27 shots in his 4th loss of the season while Angelo Zol made 5 saves on 6 shots in relief.
FINAL SCORE: 7-4 Spruce Kings
SHOTS ON GOAL: 37-33 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 2/5
WARRIORS PK: 3/5
3 STARS:
1) John Herrington (3-1-4)
2) Kilian McGregor-Bennett (0-3-3)
3) Rylee Hlusiak (2-0-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jake Bernadet (1-1-2)
Attendance: 738
The Warriors (26-18-5-0) will continue their five-game home stand as they host the Coquitlam Express (24-17-4-3) on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM at Royal LePage Place with the tickets available for purchase online on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office ahead of puck drop.
