PHOTO: Wayne Moore/Castanet
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 31st, 2018
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors scored three times in 55 seconds but would not be enough as they dropped a 5-3 preseason decision to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
The scoring got going in a penalty filled first period for the Warriors with the Smoke Eaters taking full advantage. After a 5-on-3 had expired, Mack Byers was spotted in front of the goal and lifted a shot over the blocker shoulder of Warriors netminder Connor Hopkins for the 1-0 Trail lead at the 12:07 mark of the 1st period.
The power play was again the ignition for Trail’s second goal of the night as Owen Ozar centered for Levi Glasman from below the goal line and the Smoke Eaters returnee made no mistake, shooting it by the glove side of Hopkins for a 2-0 Trail lead at the 19:10 mark of the opening period, which saw Trail outshot West Kelowna by a 16-7 margin.
The Warriors would make their way back into the game halfway through the 2nd period and came courtesy of a power play with Wyatt Head sending a pass below the goal line to Parm Dhaliwal, who walked out on the blocker side of Smoke Eaters netminder Tanner Marshall and outwaiting him to his glove side for the tally at 11:39 of the period.
Just 16 seconds after that, the game was tied as West Kelowna’s quick strike offence came into play. A misplay of a dump in from centre ice by Marshall caught him behind the goal as Sam Anderson took the puck and wrapped it around on the glove side to get the game even as the Warriors pulled to a 2-2 tie.
Capping off a stretch of three goals in 55 seconds was Bennett Norlin, who gave the Warriors their first lead of the game. After Michael Hodge hit a crossbar to try and put Trail back ahead, Willie Reim spotted Norlin with a pass on the glove side as the 20-year-old made no mistake to put his team ahead by a goal.
The Smoke Eaters countered with some quick strike offence of their own, tying the game at the 18:05 mark of the 2nd period on a seeing eye point shot. Levi Glasman won the offensive zone face-off and pushed the puck back to Trevor Zins, who moved to his right and flung a shot through traffic and by Hopkins to tie the game at 3-3.
Trail jumped ahead for good 1:02 later at the 19:07 mark of the middle stanza as Owen Ozar chipped in a pass from Sean Donaldson at the blocker side post to give the Smoke Eaters a 4-3 lead heading to the dressing room after two periods.
The game went in a back-and-forth style for the 3rd period but saw Trail add their fourth power play goal of the game on an empty netter late in the game from Hayden Rowan at 19:53 of the final frame that sealed a 5-3 preseason victory for the Smoke Eaters.
Connor Hopkins got the start for the Warriors, turning aside 28 of the 32 shots thrown his way while Tanner Marshall stopped 13 of 16 shots before being replaced by Logan Terness to begin the 3rd period and the 2002-born goaltender stopped all seven shots he faced in the final frame.
The two teams wrap up their preseason play with the second half of the home-and-home set, finishing things off in Trail for a 7:00 PM face-off. The game will be broadcasted on a free audio stream while also being available to view on HockeyTV.com.
Season tickets are now on sale for the upcoming 2018/19 season, which is set to begin Friday, September 7th before heading to Royal LePage Place to host the Trail Smoke Eaters in their home opener on Saturday, September 8th. Head to the Warriors newly renovated office to check in on ticket details.
