A round-up of scores involving Okanagan and area teams from Friday night:
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kamloops 4, Kelowna 1
It was a losing start to 2018-19 for Kelowna, as the Rockets fell in Kamloops to the Blazers in season-opening action.
Zane Franklin, Brodi Stuart and Sean Strange all scored in the first period for Kamloops (1-0-0-0) as the Blazers raced out to an early 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Stuart netted his second of the night at 2:28 of the third to make it 4-0. Orrin Centazzo had three assists for the Blazers.
Leif Mattson, at 9:19, replied for Kelowna (0-1-0-0). Kelowna was 1-for-5 on the power play while Kamloops was 2-for-5.
Dylan Ferguson stopped 25 of 26 shots for the Blazers, while James Porter turned aside 34 of 38 shots for the Rockets. The attendance was 5,583. The three stars were all Blazers: Franklin, Stuart and Centazzo.
The two teams meet again tonight in Kelowna, 7:05 p.m. at Prospera Place.
In other B.C. Division action, the Victoria Royals beat the Prince George Cougars 2-1 and the Vancouver Giants beat the Everett Silvertips 3-1.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
West Kelowna 4, Nanaimo 2
At Chilliwack, two goals in the second period put the Warriors ahead for good in a two-goal win over the Clippers.
Wyatt Head, at 13:29 of the first period; Max Bulawka, at 1:36 of the second, Mike Hardman, at 13:57 of the second, and Bennett Norlin, at 6:23 of the third, scored for West Kelowna (3-3-0-0). Head opened the scoring with Bulawka making it 2-0 and Hardman making it 3-1. Norlin’s goal pushed the Warriors’ lead to 4-1.
Kyler Kovich, at 4:37 of the second, and Bennett Norlin, who closed out the scoring at 18:26 of the third, replied for Nanaimo (2-4-0-0).
Connor Hopkins made 22 saves for the Warriors while Jordan Naylord stopped 35 shots for the Clippers. The Warriors were 3-for-6 on the power play while the Clippers were 0-for-3.
Prince George 3, Penticton 2
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At Chilliwack, Ben Brar and Nicholas Poisson scored back-to-back goals midway through the third period as the Spruce Kings overcame a 2-1 deficit for the win.
Brar also had Prince George’s other goal, as he opened the scoring at 4:45 of the first. Brar made it 2-2 at 8:11 of the third, with Poisson netting what stood up as the game winner for Prince George (5-1-0-0) just seconds later at 8:27.
Ryan Sandelin, at 15:08 of the first, and David Silye, who made it 2-1 for the Vees at 5:20 of the third, replied for Penticton (2-3-0-0).
Logan Neaton stopped 28 of 30 shots for Prince George, which went 1-for-1 on the power play. Jack LaFontaine stopped 23 of 26 shots for the Vees, who were 0-for-1 with the extra man.
Salmon Arm 6, Victoria 3
At Chilliwack, Matthew Verboon and Justin Wilson each scored twice for the Silverbacks in an offensive affair with the Grizzlies that saw a combined 76 shots on goal.
Olson Werenka and Trevor Adams also scored for Salmon Arm (2-2-0-0), which outshot Victoria 18-14 in the first period and 39-37 overall. Wilson made it 1-0 just 27 seconds into the game, just one of five goals in the first period. Werenka made it 2-1 at 14:13 while Verboon made it 3-2 at 18:16.
Verboon opened the second-period scoring at 1:03, with Wilson netting his second of the night at 15:49 to give the Silverbacks a 5-3 lead. Adams closed out the scoring at 18:16 of the third with an empty-net marker.
Marty Westhaver, at 4:02 of the first to make it 1-1; Edward Yan, at 17:11 to make it 2-2; and Charlie Campbell, at 3:04 of the second to make it 4-3, replied for Victoria (2-3-0-0).
Ethan Langenegger stopped 34 of 37 shots for the Silverbacks, who were 1-for-3 on the power play, while Keenan Rancier faced 38 shots, stopping 33 of them for Victoria. The Grizzlies were 0-for-3 on the power play.
In Saturday action, with all games taking place in Chilliwack, Salmon Arm plays Alberni Valley (2-3-0-0) at 1 p.m.; Vernon (2-2-1-0) plays winless Surrey (0-5-0-0) at 4 p.m., and Merritt (4-2-0-0) takes on Langley (3-2-0-0) at 4:30 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kelowna Chiefs 6, North Okanagan Knights 2
At Rutland Arena, the Chiefs kept their perfect start to the season alive with a three-goal win over the visiting Knights.
Devin Sutton and Zach Erhardt, with first-period goals, Ryan Stack and Juanre Naude, with markers in the second, and Brody Dale, who closed out the scoring midway through the third, scored for Kelowna (5-0-0-0-0).
Alec McLeod and Tyler Olsen, with goals in the second period, replied for North Okanagan (1-2-0-1-0). The Chiefs led 2-0 after the first period and 4-0 midway through the second. McLeod made it 4-1 at 14:55 of the second, with Olsen making it 4-2 at 19:53.
Shane Zilka stopped 25 of 27 shots for the Chiefs while Austin Made kicked aside 37 of 42 shots for the Knights. Kelowna was 0-for-5 on the power play while North Okanagan was 0-for-7.
Nelson Leafs 6, Summerland Steam 2
At Nelson, the host Leafs scored three times in the third en route to a four-goal win.
Ryan Piva, with three goals, Trail Thompson, Jack Karran and Emery Neilson scored for undefeated Nelson (5-0-0-0-0), which led 2-0 after the first period and 3-2 after 40 minutes. Everett Scherger and Cory Loring replied for Summerland (2-3-0-0-0).
Jared Breitkreuz stopped 26 of 32 shots for Summerland while Caiden Kreitz faced 21 shots for Nelson, stopping 19. The Steam were 2-for-14 on the power play while the Leafs were 3-for-9.
Revelstoke Grizzlies 10, Princeton Posse 1
At Princeton, Aubrey Macleod had the lone goal for the Posse (1-4-0-0-0) in a blowout loss the visiting Grizzlies (2-0-0-0-0).
Ullar Wiatzka and Tommy Bodtker paced Revelstoke, which had eight players light the lamp. The Grizzlies led 6-1 after the first period and 9-1 after 40 minutes.
Noah Desouza stopped 21 shots for Revelstoke. For Princeton, Jaysen MacLean faced 37 shots, stopping 31, while Dominic Bosa had no saves on four shots. Revelstoke was 1-for-5 on the power play while Revelstoke was 0-for-7.
In Saturday’s action, the Sicamous Eagles (1-2-1-0-1) visit the Kimberley Dynamiters (4-1-0-0-0); the Summerland Steam (2-3-0-0-0) visit the Castlegar Rebels (1-2-0-0-0); the Kelowna Chiefs (5-0-0-0-0) visit the North Okanagan Knights (1-2-0-1-0); and the Revelstoke Grizzlies (2-0-0-0-0) visit the Osoyoos Coyotes (1-2-0-0-0).
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