West Kelowna Warriors take first of two in Cranbrook, 4-1 Friday

Photo: Twitter

The West Kelowna Warriors snapped a 1-1 tie with three goals in a span of less than 30 seconds Friday to beat the hometown Cranbrook Bucks.

If was the first ever meeting between the Warriors and Bucks, who entered the BCHL prior to the start of the shortened 2020-2021 season.

Friday's win was their third straight to start the season, the first time the Warriors have started 3-0 since the 2011-2012 season.

The Warriors spotted the Bucks a 1-0 lead when Noah Quinn beat Johnny Derrick nearly eight minutes into the opening period.

But, it was the second period that decided this one.

Zach Reim drew the Warriors even 12 minutes into the middle frame then, near the end of the period, the Warriors erupted for three goals in just 29 second to break the game wide open.

Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero buried what proved to be the game winner 16:23 into the second, taking a pass off his skate then sending a one-timer past Nathan Airey.

Elan Bar Lev Wise scored his second of the season 13 seconds later when, off the rush, he took a drop pass from Felix Trudeau and sent a one timer from the right circle.

Then 16 seconds after that, Tyler Cristall backhanded his own rebound past a sprawling Airey to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead and close out the scoring.

Derrick stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period to secure his third win of the season.

After a slow start, the Warriors took over the territorial play over the final two periods, outshooting the Bucks 34-23 over that span.

Over the course of the night, the Warriors outshot Cranbrook 41-37.

Neither team had any success at all with the man advantage. The Warriors were 0-4 on the power play, while the Bucks went 0-2.

The same two teams meet again Saturday night when the Warriors shoot for a team-record fourth straight win to start a season.