The West Kelowna Warriors continue on with their 2nd of a three-game road trip that sees them stop at Hap Parker Arena to finish out their season series with the red-hot Powell River Kings on Saturday night.
Season Series:
Friday, December 16th @ Royal LePage Place (6-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 28th @ Hap Parker Arena (7:15 PM)
The Warriors enter Saturday night’s action having lost their last three games and will look for a bounce back in the win column tonight. The Warriors most recent defeat was Friday night in Victoria as the Grizzlies scored five 2nd period goals en route to a 7-2 victory on home ice. Braiden Epp tallied his 13th goal of the season while Chase Dubois scored his 12th goal of the year made up for the Warriors goal scoring on the night. Cole Demers started the game and picked up his 11th loss of the season, making 29 saves on 33 shots, being pulled midway through the 2nd period while Gabriel Morency saw a brief stint in net with 8 saves on 11 shots on goal.
The Warriors and Kings have played once in their two-game regular season series with the Warriors coming away victorious by a 6-1 score at Royal LePage Place just before the Christmas break. Braiden Epp scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal in the first period while Jon Russell, Quin Foreman, Scott Allan, Peter Tomaras and Logan Mostat added singles in the Warriors victory. Shane Farkas was the goalie of record on the night as he collected the win with 35 saves on 36 shots.
West Kelowna has had their best success against the Island Division this season, despite the loss last night in Victoria, as the club is 6-2-0-0 against their foes from Vancouver Island this season. West Kelowna has outscored their opponents by a 27-18 margin in those eight games against the Island Division including putting up six against the Kings their last time out against one another.
Quin Foreman had an assist on Friday night in Victoria which moved his point streak into an impressive eight games. The Norwood, Massachusetts native has complied three goals and ten assists for 13 points over the eight-game stretch, including four multi-point outings. The University of Dartmouth commit has collected a point in every game of 2017 and was last held off the score sheet on December 30th in Trail.
The Powell River Kings come into Saturday night’s action with a big win on Friday night, defeating the #1 team in the BCHL in the likes of the Wenatchee Wild at home by a 4-2 score. The Kings scored three goals in the 1st period as Carter Turnbull, Liam Lawson and Kyle Betts all tallied in the opening frame before Tristan Mullin added a third period marker to account for the scoring on the night for Powell River. Mitch Adamyk got the start in goal and picked up his 14th win of the season with 40 saves on 42 shots.
The trip to Powell River is a difficult one for teams to make and the Kings are cashing in on the tough travel. The Kings sit 2nd in the Island Division, six points behind the Victoria Grizzlies for first place, and own a 17-4-0-1 record on home ice, including five straight wins at Hap Parker Arena. What’s even more impressive is the rate the Kings have scored at during their five-game winning streak at home as they have outscored their opposition by a whopping 37-11 margin. Since the team came back from the Christmas break, the Kings are 10-1 with a loss to Langley being the lone defeat on an otherwise perfect stretch of play.
Powell River sits 3rd in the BCHL this season with 195 goals for as they trail just Wenatchee (232) and Chilliwack (197). The Kings are led in scoring by 20-year-old forward Tristan Mullin with 31 goals and 62 points in 49 games played this season while that has him ranked 4th in the BCHL in scoring. 2nd-year forward Jonny Evans leads the team in assists with 35 and sits second on the team in points just behind Mullin with 60 points on the season.
Speaking of Mullin, he’s on quite the tear recently as the Cartwright, Manitoba native is the owner of a 10-game point streak that sees him with points in each game of the 2017 portion of the schedule. The Cornell University commit has eleven goals and eight assists for 19 points over the 10-game stretch, including two game-winning goals in that time as well. Another hot player heading into the night for the Kings is 19-year-old Kyle Betts as he has points in 9 of his last 10 games with 12 goals and 6 assists for 18 points in that time as the Kings have found their offensive stride over the last month.
Puck drop is slated for 7:15 PM at Hap Parker Arena from Powell River and available with free audio on the Warriors Internet Network and live on pay-per-view at www.hockeytv.com with Warriors play-by-play man Trevor Miller. Warriors owner Mark Cheyne will be joining the broadcast tonight in the 2nd intermission of the game. West Kelowna wraps up their three-game road trip with a visit to Chilliwack on Sunday for a 5:00 PM face-off.
