Tyson Slater’s double-overtime goal delivered a 5-4 win for the Trail Smoke Eaters over the Victoria Grizzlies. Jake Stevens in the first and Cory Hatcher in the second got the Grizz out to a 2-0 lead but Josh LaFramboise and Kale Howarth replied for Trail to tie it. A shorthanded goal by Jamie Rome put Victoria up 3-2 heading to the third. Trail went ahead in the final frame on goals by Ross Armour and Luke Santerno but Tyler Welsh scored with the extra attacker for Victoria to force OT. At the 2:23 mark of 3-on-3 hockey, Slater jumped into the play from the blueline and picked up the puck in the slot, firing home the game-winner.
Slater’s 2OT winner
Slava Demin’s power-play goal in the second period proved to be the winner for the Wenatchee Wild in a 6-3 win over the Vernon Vipers. Colin Burston and Matt Baker scored in the first for Wenatchee and after Steven Jandric got the Vipers on the board in the second, Dakota Raabe and Demin added on for Wenatchee. Christian Cakebread and Shane Kelly scored in the third to get Vernon within one but Burston and Charlie Combs (empty net) had the final Wild goals of the night.
Nick Trenciansky made 37 saves for the Langley Rivermen but overtime settled nothing as they skated to a 3-3 draw with the Victoria Grizzlies. It was a busy opening frame with Nathan Looysen scoring a pair for the Grizz and Cam Thompson adding another but Max Kaufman also had two for Langley making it 3-2 Victoria after one. The second period was scoreless but Zachary Bleuler forced OT with a goal for Langley early in the third.
Alex Macdonald scored his first BCHL goal in the first on the power play and Jake Witkowski got the winner in the second in an Alberni Valley Bulldogs 2-1 win over the Coquitlam Express. Alex Ambrosio spoiled the shutout bid of Carson Schamerhorn, who made 35 saves, with 3:24 to go. Cooper Reid made 32 saves for Coquitlam.
Ted McGeen scored twice as part of a three-goal Powell River Kings second period on the way to a 5-2 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters. After a scoreless first, McGeen’s tallies bookended a Lucas Fraulin goal and the Kings led 3-0 after 40 minutes. Trail mounted a rally in the third with quick early goals by Kale Howarth and Jack Sitzman to get within one but Cam Donaldson put the Kings back up by two on the power play and Curtis McCarrick rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter.
Captain Mitch Skapski scored Salmon Arm’s second goal and then set up the eventual game-winner in a Silverbacks 4-2 win over the Nanaimo Clippers. Jared Turcotte put the ‘Backs up 1-0 after one but Adam Pilotte tied the game just past the midway point of the second for Nanaimo. Just over two minutes later, Skapski got his goal and proceeded to feed Carson Bolduc on the man advantage for the winner. The Clips’ Spencer Hewson and the ‘Backs’ Josh Latta traded goals in the third. Trevin Kozlowski made 22 saves for the win.
Linden Hora’s first period-goal was the winner and a three-goal spurt in 1:32 of the second put the Chilliwack Chiefs in command on the way to a 4-0 win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. With the score 1-0 after one, Aaron O’Neill, Cole Poliziani and O’Neill again scored in quick succession to put the game out of reach. Robert Jacobson made 21 saves for the shutout in his first BCHL start.
A pair of second-period goals for the Penticton Vees helped them to a 3-2 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings. Jacob Kamps opened the scoring for the Vees but PG tied it just before the buzzer as a long blast by Jamie Huber eluded Penticton goalie Nolan Hildebrand. Mat Robson took over the Vees crease in the second and his teammates supported him with goals by Grant Cruikshank and Ryley Risling. A late-third-period goal by PG’s Travis Schneider made things interesting but they were not able to equalize.
Lane Michasiw made 23 saves and was airtight after the first, backstopping the Cowichan Valley Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Merritt Centennials. Goals by Michael Regush and Brett Jewell had the Cents ahead 2-1 after one but they were the last two pucks to beat Michasiw on the day. Ayden MacDonald tied the game in the second for the Caps and in the third, John Sladic scored the winner and then set up the insurance tally by Darren Hards.
Ryan Brushett’s first BCHL goal was one for the highlight reel and also proved to be the game-winner for the Vernon Vipers in a 6-3 win over the Nanaimo Clippers. After Adam Pilotte opened the scoring for the Clips, Steven Jandric and Carter Stephenson replied 1:40 apart to put the Snake up 2-1 after one. Jandric and Brushett scored to make it 4-1 in the second but Matt Kowalski and Ben Solin then scored for Nanaimo around a Vipers tally by Michael Ufberg and it was 5-3 Vernon heading to the third. Stephenson got his second of the game in the final frame.
BRUSHETT’S GAME-WINNER
PILOTTE’S OPENING GOAL
Kyle Betts broke in on goal and scored to deliver a 5-4 overtime win for the Powell River Kings over the Wenatchee Wild in Friday’s first game. The teams combined for five goals in a 3:34 stretch of the first with AJ Vanderbeck, Matt Miller and Brendan Harris scoring for Wenatchee and Carter Turnbull and Tristan Mullin replying for Powell River. Curtis McCarrick tied the game 3-3 in the second and it remained that way until Betts put the Kings ahead at 16:05 of the third. Wenatchee forced OT with a Dakota Raabe goal. Betts’ winner came at 3:34 of the first overtime.
BETTS’ OVERTIME WINNER
RAABE’S TYING GOAL
A four-goal first period for the Prince George Spruce Kings paved the way for a 7-2 win over the Merritt Centennials. Brett Mennear opened the scoring and was followed in short order by Braiden Epp and Ben Poisson to chase Cents starter Jacob Berger. Cavin Tilsley made it 4-0 PG heading to the first intermission. Drew Lennon made it a five-goal edge before Brett Jewell got the Cents on the board. PG’s Jamie Huber swapped goals with Merritt’s Zach Zorn in the third. Liam McCloskey made 25 saves for the win.
Brett Mennear opens the scoring
Brett Jewell streaks in to score
Jared Domin’s late-third-period goal proved necessary as the Cowichan Valley Capitals topped the Surrey Eagles 3-2. After a scoreless first, Josh Owings got the Caps on the board late in the second and Rhett Kingston made it 2-0 just over four minutes into the third. Surrey’s Andrew Kemp scooped home a rebound 10 minutes into the final frame but Domin’s tally at 18:13 put it out of reach. Darius Davidson had an Eagles response with 47 seconds to go but they couldn’t equalize.
Jared Domin’s game-winner
Andrew Kemp gets the Eagles on the board
Another pair of goals for Quin Foreman helped the West Kelowna Warriors to a 5-3 win over the Coquitlam Express. Foreman opened the scoring and after Hayden Knight’s first BCHL goal made it 1-1 heading to the second, Foreman notched his fifth goal of the Showcase just 11 seconds into the middle frame. Mitchell Barker, Reed Gunville and Mitch Martan made it a 5-1 Warriors lead before Cameron Bertsch got one back for the Express. Luca Leone scored a beauty at 7:40 of the third but Coquitlam got no closer.
Luca Leone’s highlight goal
Mitch Barker’s tap-in
Thursday’s first game saw the Penticton Vees, behind a hat trick from Owen Sillinger, come from behind to defeat the Langley Rivermen 6-4. Langley led 2-0 after one on goals by Zac Masson and Ryan Barrow. Taylor Ward got the Vees on the board in the second but Cooper Leitch restored the Rivermen’s two-goal edge. Sillinger got his first of the game late in the second to put the Vees in striking distance heading to the third and he tied it early in the final frame before a Nic Jones shorthanded goal put Penticton in front. Ward extended the lead and after a late Max Kaufman tally got Langley back within one, Sillinger got an empty-netter for the hat trick.
Sillinger’s first of three
Kaufman fires off the draw
Opening Night of the fifth Bauer BCHL Showcase is in the books after the West Kelowna Warriors picked up a 5-2 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs in a rematch of last season’s league Finals.
Quin Foreman notched a hat trick, including the game-winner (CLICK HERE TO WATCH), to lead the Warriors’ attack on the night. After a scoreless first period, the Norwood, Mass. product notched a pair in the second as West Kelowna built a 3-0 lead.
The Chiefs chipped away with a late second-period goal from Jordan Kawaguchi and Kale Kane’s tally in the third got them within one. But that’s as close as it got as Foreman sealed the deal with his hat trick goal into an empty net. (CLICK HERE FOR FOREMAN’s POSTGAME INTERVIEW)
New Warriors netminder Xavier Burghardt made 31 saves for his second win of the season.
