Desautels Shuts out Vipers

One night after the Vernon Vipers spoiled the West Kelowna home opener, the Warriors returned the favor knocking off the Snakes by a 4-0 score.

West Kelowna got a pair of 1^st period goals from Jordan Masters including one on the Powerplay to give the Tribe a 2-0 lead after 1. Masters was making up for a 4 minute high sticking penalty in the period, as he put his 1^st one by Danny Todosychuk after coming out of the box. Jason Cotton got the puck to the front of the goal and Masters was able to knock it in. 

The Vipers had controlled the majority of the play and West Kelowna was pretty lucky to escape the Masters penalty without giving up a goal after a couple key giveaways. Vernon outshot the Warriors 14-10 in the first 20 minutes, but Andy Desautels was extremely sharp making some big stops.

Early on in Period 2, Brett Mennear tipped a Mac Ferner point shot past Todosych making it 3-0, then Kylar Hope would round out the scoring after taking a perfectly placed shot off the end boards from Kristian Blumenschein and banging it to the yawning cage. West Kelowna took control in the period thanks to 4 straight Powerplays, out shooting Vernon 20-7.

The 3rd period looked a little like last night's 2nd period, as there would be no scoring, shots were 9-3 for Vernon. 

Halfway thru the 3rd period, Desautels took a slapshot off the mask and immediately fell forward and got his helmet off. Mike Bois came out to check on him, learning that the shot had somehow broken Desautels front tooth right in half and cut his upper lip. Not exactly looking like Bobby Clarke, but close enough, he would remain in the game and finish off his 30 save shutout.

According to  "Dezzy" as he's known around the room, there was no way he was coming out. "I wasn't going to let anyone take me out, even though the refs wanted me out because of the blood.  10 minutes away from a shut out I wasn't going anywhere" he said.

Next up for the Warriors is a date with the Coquitlam Express on Tuesday, and Brent Gough expects a different game than the first one at the BCHL Showcase.

"They'll be a lot more prepared and ready to go with more games under their belt. I like that we can get right back at it after a complete effort as a team tonight."

Tuesday's game will be available on 95.1 FM WDCR and online at www.WDCR.ca and www.bchl.fasthockey.com with a subscription.

Post-Game with Brent Gough

Post-Game with Andy Desautels