Photo Credit: Lorne White(Kelowna Now)
September 26, 2018
West Kelowna, BC
After a short break to attend the BCHL Showcase, the West Kelowna Warriors and Wenatchee Wild renewed acquaintances on Wednesday night at Royal Lepage Place. It was there just eleven days ago that the Wenatchee Wild were able to comeback from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to beat the Warriors by a 4-2 score. The win came via the power play, as the only two power plays of the game went to the Wild, and they capitalized on both.
At the showcase in Chilliwack over the weekend, the Warriors went 2-0 to even their record to 3-3, while the Wild went 1-1 to send their regular season record to 4-2 through six games played. Both teams were ready to go on Wednesday night, and were after each other right off the opening face-off.
On this night, we didn’t have to wait long for the first power play of the game, as the Warriors were awarded one in the first five minutes. They were able to take advantage, courtesy of Matt Kowalski. Kowalski notched his first of the season, beating Wild goaltender Cal Sandquist courtesy of a bad bounce off a Wild defender in the slot. Kowalski was looking for Max Bulawka on the far side, and instead had his pass touch a Wild penalty killer and climb behind Sandquist to open the scoring just 4:55 into the first frame. Bulawka and Willie Reim would draw assists on the goal that sent the Warriors to a 1-0 lead.
The Wild were the puck carriers in the first period as they outshot the Warriors by a 12-7 margin, but were unable to beat Warriors starter and reigning BCHL Player of the Week Connor Hopkins to tie the hockey game. Hopkins didn’t have to be spectacular, just solid and in position to have clean looks at Wild shots.
He would continue his heroics into the second period, allowing the Warriors to get their legs back underneath them while still holding the 1-0 lead. The home team got better as the period got older, and they were able to draw another penalty in the back half of the frame. They once again capitalized on the power play, this time courtesy of Max Bulawka’s third of the season at 16:55. The Warriors were able to use the same play as they did on their first goal, except this one needed no help. Kowalski was able to feed the puck to Reim on the goal line, who slid it across to Bulawka. He was stuffed on the first attempt, but was able to pick up his own rebound and shovel it past Sandquist to extend the lead to two.
Blake Bargar was able to net his first of the season for the Wenatchee Wild, screening Connor Hopkins and having a Jacob Modry shot hit him on the way in to make it a 2-1 game. Wenatchee was able to outshoot the Warriors 27-14 through 2 periods, but Connor Hopkins stood tall to keep his team in the lead.
The third period was where things started to get interesting. Wenatchee captain Lucas Sowder was barred from game for checking from behind with 16:35 remaining, giving the Warriors a 5-on-3 for :59. This set off a string of penalties that saw the Warriors score three times to take a 5-2 lead in a span of ten minutes. The game winning goal, scored by Willie Reim, will be one that’s hotly contested on the part of the Wenatchee Wild.
Reim was taken down on the way to the goal, but was able to chip the puck up over Cal Sandquist and into the back of the net while sliding through the crease. The net was subsequently knocked off, and Sandquist ended up on the bottom of a pile-up, but the goal stood after a debate from the referees.
Lucas Cullen didn’t make things any easier for the Wild, as he burned a defender wide and was able to slide one through Sandquist just :39 seconds later while at 4on4. Cullen’s first of the season put the Warriors up 4-2 and gave them a stranglehold on what turned into a gritty third period.
Chase Dubois would put the nail in the Wenatchee Wild’s coffin with another power play goal at 13:42, beating Sandquist from the left wing circle to finish the scoring at 5-2.
Connor Hopkins was named the Fortis Energy Player of the game, making 40 saves on 42 shots against in the victory, while the Warriors scored five times on 20 shots in the W. The Warriors power play did the majority of the damage on this night, scoring four times on eight opportunities. They also chimed in with a 4-on-4 goal to close out the scoring.
On deck for the Warriors is a home and home series with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks this coming weekend. You can catch all the action on HockeyTV!
