Rorke Applebee stole the show with a 45-save performance as the West Kelowna Warriors extended their win streak to eight games with a 4-3 shootout win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday night at the Shaw Centre.
After a four-goal opening period on Sunday afternoon, the Warriors continued their goal scoring prowess into Wednesday night in the opening frame with three goals coming in first 20 minutes of action, beginning with a power play goal from 16-year-old forward Eliot Compton.
Isaiah Norlin had the puck at the mid-point and fired a shot through traffic that deflected off the stick of Compton in the slot over the right shoulder of Silverbacks goaltender Ryan Grout for his 2nd goal of the season at the 4:57 mark of the 1st period for a 1-0 lead for the visitors.
West Kelowna doubled their advantage at the 7:32 mark of the period with #11 Cal Hughes picking up his 11th goal of the season on a one-time shot. Jack Pridham gathered the puck below the goal line on the blocker side of Grout and fed a pass in the slot where Hughes snapped it past the Silverbacks netminder to give West Kelowna a 2-0 lead just over seven and a half minutes into the game.
Before the period was out, one in which the Warriors outshot the Silverbacks by a 15-9 margin, Landen Hilditch found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. Hilditch took a pass from Simon Houge at the right face-off circle before moving in, dragging the puck around a defender and zipping a shot past the shoulder of Grout at the 17:57 mark for a 3-0 advantage.
The Silverbacks opened the second period with a power play and took momentum from that to get back into the game as immediately following a man advantage, Nathan Mackie gave Salmon Arm life. The Silverbacks captain was set up in the left face-off circle and buried a one-time shot past the blocker side of Warriors netminder Rorke Applebee at the 5:32 mark of the period to cut the lead to 3-1.
A disallowed goal against the Silverbacks got everyone in the building fired up as JJ Monteiro was seen to have interfered with Applebee at the front of the Warriors net before just 30 seconds after the disallowed marker, Maddux Martin scored one that counted and Salmon Arm cut the Warriors lead to just one goal.
A puck was pushed from below the goal line to the glove side where Martin buried a shot past Applebee to give the Silverbacks their second goal of the game at the 16:26 mark of the 2nd period as Salmon Arm crept their way back in the game heading into the final regulation period.
The 3rd period was very even through the opening 18 and a half minutes before the Silverbacks pulled their goaltender and scored to even the game with 1:17 remaining in regulation as Tristan Allen threw a puck to the front of the net before it was knocked down and Isaac Lambert swatted it past the blocker side of Applebee to force overtime.
While the overtime period did not result in any goals for either side, Rorke Applebee cemented his strong status on the game, making 12 saves in the extra period including a big stop with the glove on Cole Longacre around the halfway point of the overtime to keep the game going, eventually, into a shootout.
Michael Salandra led off with a strong showing of hands to give the Warriors a shootout lead with Applebee shutting the door on the two shooters he faced and Felix Caron missing for West Kelowna. Isaiah Norlin, who won the Warriors the game in a shootout against Salmon Arm on November 22nd, did it again as he slipped a shot through the five-hole of Grout for the win.
Applebee was outstanding all night, making 45 saves on 48 shots in his 13th win of the season while Ryan Grout turned aside 31 of the 34 shots thrown his way in his 1st shootout loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Warriors (SO)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 48-35 Silverbacks
WARRIORS PP: 1/4
WARRIORS PK: 4/4
3 STARS:
1) Rorke Applebee (45 saves on 48 shots)
2) Nathan Mackie (1-1-2)
3) Cal Hughes (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jonah Aegerter (0-0-0)
ATTENDANCE: 1,125
West Kelowna (18-6-2-0) will make their first trip of the season to the South Okanagan and take on the Penticton Vees (19-3-2-2) on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
The Warriors will host their final game of the calendar year, wrapping up 2023 at Royal LePage Place on Saturday night against the Vees. Fans will have the opportunity to take pictures with Santa ahead of the game in the lobby. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM at RLP with tickets available for purchase on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office ahead of the game.