A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
As playoff starts go, for the Kelowna Rockets, Friday night was as bad as it gets.
Thomas Milic stopped all 21 shots he faced for the shutout, and the Seattle Thunderbirds scored early and often to blank Kelowna 6-0 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Jared Davidson, who opened and closed the scoring, Sam Oremba, Lucas Ciona, Matthew Rempe and Jordan Gustafson scored for Seattle, which hosts Game 2 on Saturday night.
Notably, four of Seattle’s goals were scored on the power play, including both of Davidson’s goals, as the Thunderbirds went 4-for-7 with the extra man. Further, the Rockets took the game’s first three penalties: Jake Poole for boarding at 1:26, Jackson DeSouza for holding at 2:39, then Noah Dorey for slashing at 4:23.
“We knew what was going to happen early, they were going to come out with emotion,” Rockets head coach Kris Mallette said in a press release.
“We put ourselves in a pretty deep hole with a penalty right off the bat, down three before you could even blink it seemed like. We knew they were going to come out hard, it’s a tough hole to get out of.
“We couldn’t really find our rhythm, third period I thought we pushed a little more of the type of hockey we need to play to compete.”
For Kelowna, starting goalie Tayln Boyko faced 22 shots, stopping 17 of them, However, he gave up three first-period goals, including Davidson’s game-opening marker just 97 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Oremba made it 2-0 at 7:14 following a giveaway in Kelowna’s slot, with Ciona pushing Seattle’s lead to 3-0 at 12:03. The T-Birds then scored twice in the second period, with Davidson rounding out the scoring on the power play at 19:51.
Boyko was pulled after 33 minutes when Seattle went up 5-0. Jari Kykkanen stopped 11 of 12 shots in relief.
The Rockets went 0-for-7 on the power play.
After Game 2 in Seattle on Saturday night, Kelowna will host Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Kamloops captain Logan Stankoven tallied a hat trick and two assists for a five-point outing as the Blazers steamrolled the Spokane Chiefs 9-0 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Thursday’s result
- Edmonton 4, Lethbridge 1
- (Edmonton leads series 1-0)
Friday’s results
- Vancouver 5, Everett 4
- (Vancouver leads series 1-0)
- Kamloops 9, Spokane 0
- (Kamloops leads series 1-0)
- Portland 5, Prince George 2
- (Portland leads series 1-0)
- Moose Jaw 5, Saskatoon 1
- (Moose Jaw leads series 1-0)
- Red Deer 5, Brandon 0
- (Red Deer leads series 1-0)
- Winnipeg 3, Prince Albert 1
- (Winnipeg leads series 1-0)
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Prince Albert at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
- Lethbridge at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
- Saskatoon at Moose Jaw, 6 p.m.
- Brandon at Red Deer, 6 p.m.
- Prince George at Portland, 6 p.m.
- Kelowna at Seattle, 6:05 p.m.
- Vancouver at Everett, 6:05 p.m.
- Spokane at Kamloops, 7 p.m
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Salmon Arm, West Kelowna doubled up the Silverbacks in shots and goals as the Warriors advanced to the third round of the playoffs.
West Kelowna outshot Salmon Arm 42-21 en route to winning the best-of-seven series 4-1.
Christophe Farmer, with a hat trick, Chase Dafoe, Elan Bar-Lev-Wise and John Evans scored for West Kelowna, which trailed 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 just one minute into the second.
However, the Warriors replied at 7:34, with Farmer scoring his first of the night to make it 3-2. Then, at 12:42, he tallied his second to level the score at 3-3.
In the third, Bar-Lev-Wise scored a clutch power-play goal at 11:35 to give West Kelowna a 4-3 lead. Then, with time winding down and Salmon Arm having pulled its goalie, the Warriors added a pair of empty-net goals to round out the game.
Johnny Derrick made 18 saves for the Warriors, while Owen Say turned aside 36 shots for the Silverbacks.
The Warriors were 2-for-4 on the power play while the Silverbacks were 1-for-1.
Having dispatched Vernon 4-1 in the first round, then Salmon Arm 4-1 in the second round, West Kelowna will now face top-seeded Penticton in the third round.
The Vees took a similar route to the Interior Conference final, beating Trail 4-1, then sweeping Prince George 4-0 in the semifinals.
Friday’s results
- Alberni Valley 2, Langley 1
- (Langley leads series 3-2)
Saturday’s games
- Alberni Valley at Langley, 7:15 p.m.
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