Photo Credit: Garrett James Photography
October 8th, 2019
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The Langley Rivermen even the season series after a wild 4-3 shootout victory with the Warriors Tuesday night.
It was a solid start for the Warriors who put 13 shots on the Rivermen goaltender Braeden Fleming but it was the Rivermen who drew first blood. A cross ice pass from Rivermen forward Brendan Budy would find an open Kalen Szeto to give the Rivermen a 1-0 lead early.
The second period was full of power play attempts for the Warriors and after 4 straight failed attempts the Rivermen would capitalize on one of their own and took a 2-0 lead. Warriors would finally score on a power play of their own courtesy of Trevor Adams to cut the lead but the Rivermen Sean Bunting would wire a shot past Johnny Derrick a couple minutes later to make it 3-1 Rivermen after two periods.
The Warriors have had a tough time in the final frame losing games after allowing insurance goals and losing out on battles in the corners, but not this time. Warriors were able to turn on the jets in the final ten minutes of the third period, and after Spencer Hora was able to fire a shot towards Braeden Fleming, Brendan Pigeon would collect the rebound and feed Rob Christy to cut the lead to one with less than 5 minutes to go in the third. With under a minute remaining and the net empty the Warriors would keep pushing. After Declan Douthart threw the puck towards the net John Evans would find an open Brandon Dent on the right side sharp angle to tie the game up forcing overtime.
In the extra frame the Rivermen had a couple scoring chances but Johnny Derrick was “Johnny on the spot” making a couple crucial saves late allowing the Warriors to head to their first shoot out of the season. The first 4 shooters all scored, but then it turned into a goaltending dual between Johnny Derrick and Braeden Fleming with the shootout going a total of 9 rounds. After Brendan Pigeon wasn’t able to put one past Braeden Fleming, Kaeden Patrick was able to solve Johnny Derrick to give the Rivermen a 4-3 shoot out win.
Three Stars:
- WKW Johnny Derrick (31 Saves)
- WKW Spencer Hora (1A)
- WKW Brandon Dent (1G-1A)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW F Trevor Adams (1A)
The Warriors next game is Friday October 11th versus the Wenatchee Wild. Puck drop 7:05pm from the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee. This game will be streamed on Hockey TV and will be broadcast on the Warriors radio network on Mixlr.
