The West Kelowna Warriors used three-point efforts from NHL Draft picks Luke Devlin and Ben MacDonald to earn a 6-3 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Wednesday night at Royal LePage Place.
After a strong display of goaltending on Saturday night in Penticton, Angelo Zol was at it again as he made a sprawling blocker side save on Luke Eurig early in the game. The Warriors turned the puck over in their defensive zone as Jack Kurrle sent a pass to the left side where Eurig pushed a puck to the net and Zol slid across to make the tremendous stop to keep the game scoreless.
The Spruce Kings did break through as the first team to score in the opening period as Austin Fraser picked up his fourth goal of the season against West Kelowna and gave his team a 1-0 lead. Colton Cameron made a strong play to keep the puck in at the left point as he slid a pass to the top of the left face-off circle with Fraser sending a shot through traffic and past the blocker side of the Warriors netminder at the 10:59 mark of the 1st period for a 1-0 Spruce Kings lead.
Zol remained strong in the opening period, making saves on 10 of the 11 shots thrown his way in the 1st period while Jordan Fairlie wasn’t tested as much in the Prince George net but made saves on all 8 shots thrown his way in the opening 20 minutes of action.
The 2nd period saw the Warriors turn their game around, scoring four separate times and took no time at all to get back in the game with a marker 29 seconds into the middle frame courtesy of a shot from Isaiah Norlin, scoring his first goal since October 1st.
Felix Caron freed a puck from below the goal line as he centered to the left face-off circle where Luke Devlin had his shot denied by Fairlie before Norlin collected the rebound in the right face-off circle and buried his shot past the glove side of the Spruce Kings netminder for his 3rd goal of the season and evened the score at 1-1.
West Kelowna took their first lead of the game at the 5:11 mark of the 2nd period as Luke Devlin tallied his 4th goal of the season and pushed the Warriors ahead for the first time in the game. Devlin took a Bobby May bank off the glass on the right side and drove wide before cutting to the net from the right face-off circle and powered to the goal, flipping the puck past the glove side of Fairlie to make it a one-goal Warriors lead.
Brennan Nelson extended the Warriors advantage to a pair of goals in the middle frame with his 7th tally of the season to get ahead by a 3-1 score on the power play. Ben MacDonald made his way to the top of the slot and sent a shot to the net that was deflected in front by Nelson at the 6:54 mark of the middle frame to push the Warriors lead to 3-1.
West Kelowna completed their four unanswered markers with Matt Fusco snapping his 6th goal of the season past the blocker side of Fairlie, ending the Prince George netminder’s night. Fusco took an Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero drop pass at the left point and walked into the face-off circle before wiring a shot past the right side of Fairlie at the 13:14 mark of the period to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead and see Aidan Fedemma come into the hockey game in relief.
Evan Fedele got the Spruce Kings back within a pair of goals before the 2nd period came to a conclusion as he tallied on a breakaway, stealing the puck at the Warriors blue line and making his way to the offensive zone, sending a shot over the blocker side of Zol at the 16:45 mark of the 2nd period to make the game 4-2.
The Prince George power play struck in the 3rd period and got the game within one as Luca Primerano found the back of the net to cut the deficit in half. Primerano got to the left face-off circle and sent a shot off a stick and past the glove side of Zol to make it a 4-3 Warriors lead at the 8:18 mark of the final period.
For the second time in the game, the Warriors power play struck and came through at a big time as Felix Caron buried his 6th goal of the season and gave the Warriors their two-goal lead back with just under four minutes to play. Dylan Brooks had his point shot stopped by Fedemma before Caron whacked it in on the glove side for the marker and a 5-3 Warriors lead.
Ben MacDonald concluded the scoring with his third point of the hockey game at the 18:06 mark of the final period, getting to a puck at the front of the net on a rebound and pushing it past the blocker side of Fedemma to conclude the scoring at 6-3 West Kelowna with his 9th goal of the season.
Angelo Zol turned aside 19 of the 22 shots thrown his way in his 3rd win of the season in the Warriors net while Spruce Kings netminder Jordan Fairlie made 13 saves on 17 shots in his 6th loss of the season before being relieved by Aidan Fedemma, who stopped 9 of the 11 shots he faced in the game.
FINAL SCORE: 6-3 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 28-22 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 2/5
WARRIORS PK: 4/5
3 STARS:
1) Luke Devlin (1-2-3)
2) Isaiah Norlin (1-1-2)
3) Matt Fusco (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Ben MacDonald (1-2-3)
Attendance: 762
The Warriors (15-6-3-0) head on the road to begin a three-game road trip starting on Friday night as they take on the Cranbrook Bucks (15-8-1-0) at Western Financial Place. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM PST with the game being broadcasted live on AM 1150