Warriors OT heartache

Photo: Wayne Moore

Brock Baier stretches out his right pad to stone Jayden Price on a penalty shot in overtime.

The West Kelowna Warriors were 72 seconds away from earning their first win on home ice - they were 6.7 seconds from getting to a shootout.

But, as has been the narrative early this season, the breaks went against them.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks got a goal from Drew Bennett with 1:12 to go in regulation time, and the winner with under seven second left in OT to remain perfect this season with a 4-3 victory over the Warriors at Royal LePage Place.

"We battled hard all night against a real good team. I thought Brock (Baier) was fantastic in net and gave us a chance to win the game, but we miss an assignment in overtime and it ends up in the back of the net," said Warriors head coach Brandon West.

"It was a tough result for the guys. I really thought we were going to get a bounce here tonight. Unfortunately we didn't, so let's get ready for Friday.

The Warriors never trailed in the game, taking leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, but we unable to build the all-important two-goal lead.

And, after mishandling a point shot that tied it in the first, Baier was almost unbeatable. He made two huge saves down the stretch, stoning Salmon Arm's leading goal scorer Daniel Rybarik on a penalty shot with the Warriors nursing a one-goal lead in the third, then robbed Jayden Price with the right pad on another penalty shot in overtime.

"He wanted to get back in the net after Saturday night's performance, and I thought he was really good tonight.

"Those saves that he made are so crucial at crucial times. I thought that really gave us a boost of confidence on the bench, and I wish we could have won that one for him."

The Warriors started out tentative, but really got rolling midway through the period when they controlled the puck for about a minute during a five-on-three power play.

The pressure paid off when Levi Stauber grabbed a rebound and backhanded in his team-leading sixth of the season.

Tied 1-1 heading into the second, Drew Vieten found a rebound two minutes into the period and buried his first career BCHL goal.

After the Silverbacks tied it, rookie Brendan Pigeon stole a puck in the Salmon Arm end and found Rob Christy who buried his first.

The goal looked like it would stand up until a late flurry by the Silverbacks.

During a scramble in front of the Warrior net, the puck squirted out to the slot where Bennett turned, and fired a shot that alluded a number of bodies and found its way into the net.

The Silverbacks 6-0 start is their best start in more than a decade, while the Warriors, 1-5-2-0 are off to their worst start since locating to the city in 2006.

Things don't get any easier for the Warriors who will try to get back into the win column against the high-flying Penticton Vees.

The teams will meet Friday in the SOEC before a return engagement Saturday at Royal LePage Place.