The West Kelowna Warriors and Penticton Vees went the distance Saturday night at Royal Lepage Place with Penticton skating away with a 3-2 win in a shootout.
The West Kelowna Warriors were greeted by a Penticton Vees team on a mission to keep their winning ways intact. The Vees would dominate the first half of the opening period before finding themselves in some penalty trouble. Already shorthanded, Ryan Mcguire would take a slashing penalty giving the Warriors a 5-on-3 powerplay. It was there that the Warriors would finally get their power play to click. John Evans would fire one home to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Shortly after, the Vees would get their own 5-on-3 advantage. Quinn Huston would even the score 1-1. Matteo Costantini would quickly follow suit with another goal on the powerplay. The two teams would head to the first intermission with Penticton holding a 2-1 advantage.
The beginning of the second period would mimic that of the first. The Vees would spend a substantial amount of time attacking in the Warriors zone. Warriors goaltender Zach Bennett was up to the test, stopping all the shots fired his way in the period. Once again it was Evans finding the back of the net. He would pick up the puck in the slot and score the equalizer. The Warriors would ride the momentum from that goal through the rest of the period and find themselves starting the third period even a 2.
The third period would see the two teams share scoring chances. Both Bennett and Vees goaltender Yaniv Perets would keep the shooters at bay. The Warriors were able to kill off a late penalty and force the game into overtime. The extra frame would be played 3-on-3 and there was no shortage in scoring opportunities. Once again both goaltenders were there when called upon and the game would head to a shootout.
After a scoreless first round, Penticton Vees Quinn Hutson would put one past Bennett. Warriors forward Elan Bar Lev Wise was then able to also find the back of the net in his attempt. The Vees were once again successful to start the third round of the shootout. Evans would step up looking to extend the shootout but was denied by Perets.
The Warriors come out of the weekend with regulation loss on Friday and one in a shootout on Saturday. They will now prepare for a pair of games on the Thanksgiving weekend against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Puck drop on Friday October 9th from Royal Lepage Place is 7:00pm. Next weekends games will be streamed on Hockey TV and will be broadcast on the Warriors radio network. Additionally, The game in Salmon Arm on Saturday October 10th can be viewed on the Shaw Spotlight Channel.