Warriors Crash Rockets in Overtime
Extra time was needed Wednesday in Kelowna as the Moose Jaw Warriors picked up a 3-2 overtime win over the Rockets at Prospera Place.
The opening period the teams established a quick pace which featured several rushes up the ice, hard plays along the offensive walls, there was puck scrambles in front of both nets, and keys saves in close quarters by both goaltenders which kept the game scoreless after one period.
Two and a half minutes in to the second period Branden Klatt and Yan Khomenko fought the puck off the right Kelowna wall. With a delayed penalty coming to the Rockets, Klatt’s shot was block and the puck came to a pinching Matt Sozanski who ripped the puck top shelf for his second of the year.
Kelowna was given a golden opportunity to tie the game shortly after when the Warriors handed them a two-man advantage for 51 seconds. The Warriors penalty kill was strong as it leaned on Brody Willms and were able to keep the Rockets off the board.
Moose Jaw was put on the power play with five and a half minutes left in the period, Brayden Burke whistled a pass from the right circle to Brett Howden inside the left circle where he ripped a shot to the back of the net for his 23rd of the year, giving Moose Jaw a 2-0 lead.
Three minutes later and just after a Warriors power play the Rockets stormed up the ice and veteran Nick Merkley was able to convert on a wraparound to make it a one-goal game after forty minutes.
Kelowna was able to find the game tying goal just over four minutes in to the third period when Calvin Thurkauf led a two-on-two rush up the ice, Thurkauf led the rush on the right wing and then snapped the puck over the glove of Willms to even the game at two.
The rest of regulation saw both teams create scoring chances but neither was able to notch the game winning goal which led to overtime.
With two minute to go in the extra period, 19-year-old Warriors forward Brayden Burke came off the right wall and drove to the high slot where he let a hard wrist shot go that beat Michael Herringer, handing the Warriors the win.
Burke finished with a goal and two points and goalie Brody Willms had 30 saves. Moose Jaw was 1-for-5 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The B.C. Division portion of the Warriors road trip wraps up on Friday when they head to northern BC to take on the Prince George Cougars. Catch all the action on Country 100 starting with the Westrum Lumber Timber Mart PreGame Show at 8:40pm.
