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Playoff recap – March 10

Lucas Sowder scored his third of the playoffs and added an assist, Austin Park stopped 25 of 26 shots and Matt Gosiewski’s shorthanded goal was the difference as the Wenatchee Wild beat the West Kelowna Warriors 3-1 to even their series and force a Game 7 tomorrow night.

Sowder opened the scoring 5:49 into the game, but Austin Chorney replied for the Warriors less than 30 seconds later to make it 1-1 after one. After a scoreless second, Gosiewski potted his first of the postseason on the penalty kill just over five minutes into the third and Marko Reifenberger added an empty-netter to make it a 3-1 final.

With his two-point effort, Sowder now has eight points in six playoff games, tying him for fifth in playoff scoring. Connor Hopkins nearly stole the game for West Kelowna as they were outshot 52-26 and Hopkins made 49 saves in a losing effort. With the 2-3-2 format, there will be no travel ahead of Game 7, which goes tomorrow night in Wenatchee.

Daniel Chenard and Cole Donhauser both turned in heroic performances when it counted the most as the Chilliwack ChiefsΒ  came back from down 3-0 in their opening round series to eliminate the Langley Rivermen after a 3-2 win in Game 7. Harrison Blaisdell got things going with his first goal of the playoffs and Donhauser scored just over a minute later to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead after one. Kalen Szeto got Langley on the board in the second, but Donhauser responded with a shorthanded tally to reclaim the Chiefs’ two-goal advantage. Trevor Ayre scored in the third, but Chenard shut the door the rest of the way and was named the game’s first star. After dropping the first three games of the series, Chilliwack won four straight one-goal games to complete the comeback. The Chiefs will host the Prince George Spruce Kings in the opening game of their series in Round 2.