The West Kelowna Warriors earned a win and locked in their first round playoff opponent all in the same night on Friday (Mar. 29).
After a scoreless first period against the Powell River Kings, the Warriors struck for two goals in the second period. At the 14:32 mark, Dylan Krayer opened the scoring with his first career BCHL goal in his first career BCHL game, making it 1-0. A few minutes later, Warriors leading scorer Felix Caron added his 31st goal of the campaign to double the lead.
The scoring continued in the first 10 minutes of the third period as Carter Oakenfold scored his second goal of the season on the powerplay at the 3:57 mark of the frame. At the 6:25 mark, Trent Wilson added his 18th goal of the season to make it 4-0.
Powell River battled back, but fell just short. Christian Maro scored shorthanded at the 10:34 mark, followed by Zander Stewart 54 seconds later to cut the deficit in half.
Stewart scored his second goal of the game, eighth of the season with 1:08 left to go in the game but the Warriors would hold onto the 4-3 victory.
Rorke Applebee made 19 saves in the win while Caron, Oakenfold, Wilson, and Johannes Løkkeberg all collected multi-point nights.
With the loss, Powell River is eliminated from playoff contention.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 32-10-11-0 on the season, clinching second place in the BCHL’s Western Conference. Because of that, they are now scheduled to face the Cranbrook Bucks in the first round of the BCHL playoffs. The playoffs start on Friday, Apr. 5 at Royal LePage Place with the Warriors hosting the Bucks. It will be the first time in franchise history the Warriors take on Cranbrook in the first round.
But before the playoffs, the Warriors play their last game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon as they head down Highway 97 to take on the Penticton Vees. Puck drop is at 2 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
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