Warriors 5 - Silverbacks 4 OT

The Warriors won a special teams battle in overtime on Friday night when Jonathan Desbiens buried one at 4:27 of overtime off a face-off win from Liam Blackburn.

West Kelowna opened the scoring on the power-play when Jake Harrison hammered one home, but the Silverbacks responded with a pair of their own in the final 10 minutes of the period. First it was Mitch Newsome putting one past Keelan Williams who made his BCHL debut for the Warriors. It was then Nick Hutchison who made the game 2-1 on the man advantage.

In the 2nd period Kyle Marino tied the game up deflecting Nick Rutigliano's point shot past Angus Redmond. The Silverbacks would get a pair of power plays in the period, but it was the Warriors who scored on them. Kylar Hope forced a turnover at the Silverbacks blueline and went upstairs blocker side on Redmond. After the next penalty call, Brett Mennear got the puck past Josh Laframboise at the Warrior line, and turned on the jets and went shelf glove side to give the Warriors a 4-2 lead.

The 3rd period would see a pair of Salmon Arm power-play goals, one early with Nick Hutchison getting it, and then Colton Thibault tied the game after the Warriors were put down 5 on 3 twice. The goal would be scored with just Scott Allan in the box.

Then in overtime, the Silverbacks had the early pressure but the Warriors got a couple of good opportunities of their own as well. With a face-off in the 'Backs zone and just 30 seconds left, Blackburn won the draw right to Desbiens, who's quick release beat Redmond glove side and sent the Warriors bench onto the ice to celebrate the two points.

Game Thoughts:

• Special Teams once again were a factor in the game and 6 of the 9 goals were scored when one team had 1 less skater. The Warriors went 1 for 3 on the power play, while the 'Backs went 3 for 8. West Kelowna's 2 short-handed markers took the wind out of the Silverbacks sails, but the regrouped in the 3rd and went 2 for 4 in the frame.
• Goaltending for the Warriors was solid throughout as Keelan Williams made his debut. He made a huge save on Chase Zieky in the 2nd period when it was 2-2, and made a couple other saves to prevent goals. Overall, Williams was solid in the Warriors net, and only 1 goal you really would like a save on, as Hutchison's 2nd was a big rebound right to him. The other 3 were back-door plays or passes off the end wall that ended up in the net. As far as the Silverbacks go, Redmond got beat up high 3 times, including twice on breakaways. The deflection goal by Marino and the slapshot from Jake Harrison were ones that he probably didn't have a chance on with the screens in front. Desbiens shot was placed perfectly and screened as well right off the draw.
• The physical play in this hockey game was ramped up in the 2nd period and continued throughout the 3rd. It was clear the two teams will have a rivalry for the remainder of the season as they should, both big teams that like to throw their weight around. You could say discipline was a factor for the Warriors as they lost their cool, if you only look at the box score. In the end it was 2 points for the Warriors, and just 1 for the 'Backs as the rest of the Interior cringes at the 3-point game. Should be another big one tonight.