Steven Arp scored 54 seconds into overtime as the Wenatchee Wild staved off elimination and topped the Kelowna Rockets 5-4 south of the border in game five of the WHL Playoffs’ first round on Friday, April 5.
Arp picked up the puck and skated around the outside circle before snapping a shot from outside the hash marks and beating Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen. It was his first of the postseason.
Kelowna still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, with game six set for Sunday night at Prospera Place.
Wenatchee, who had lost three in a row after winning the series’ first game, used two goals from Kenta Isogai. Briley Wood and Evan Friesen also scored for the WHL’s newest franchise.
Gabriel Szturc found the back of the net twice for the Rockets, with Michael Cicek and Tij Iginla also scoring for the Central Okanagan squad. Kelowna scored twice in the game’s final three minutes to stun Wenatchee and force overtime.
Kykkanen made 26 saves.
His counterpart, Wild netminder Daniel Hauser, stopped 27 shots to record his second win of the playoffs.
After Isogai opened the game’s scoring 44 seconds into the first period, Cicek responded for Kelowna on the power play 11 minutes later to score his first of the playoffs.
Isogai restored the Wild’s lead less than three minutes later when he scored shorthanded.
Wood extended Wenatchee’s lead to 3-1 on the power play, before the start of the third period.
Szturc and Friesen traded goals before the Rockets launched their two-game comeback to send the game to overtime.
Iginla scored on the power play at 19:13 of the final frame, with Caden Price and Andrew Cristall adding assists.
The Rockets will have another opportunity on Sunday, April 7, to eliminate the Wild and advance to the second round. Puck drop is at 2 p.m.
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