West Kelowna erase 3-0 deficit, beat Trail in a shootout

Photo: Wayne Moore

Michale Salandra scores one of the Warriors three goals in regulation time.

Isaiah Norlin scored the only goal of a seven round shootout Friday leading the West Kelowna Warriors to a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win over the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters.

Norlin beat Trail netminder Teagen Kendrick to the glove side from about 15 feet out to secure their first victory of 2023 in thrilling fashion.

The Warriors trailed 3-0 midway through the second period before mounting their comeback.

Angeo Zol, who stopped a seven shots he faced in the shootout and made several other big saves to keep the Warriors in it, sparked the comeback.

Zol made a highlight reel save, diving across his crease to thwart a two-on-one. As is often the case, the Warriors went back the other way and got one of their own.

Riley Sharun notched his third of the season, banging home a juicy rebound from the low slot.

Five minutes into the third, Michael Salandra cut the deficit to one backhanding a rebound past Kendrick on a Warriors two-on-one with the teams playing four aside.

Ten minutes later, Jaiden Moriello scored his team-leading 16th, deflecting Norlin's wrist shot from the point. The puck appeared to squeeze past Kendrick and trickle into the net.

Brady Hunter had the best chance in overtime but Zol made another sensational stop, denying Hunter on a partial breakaway.

The Smoke Eaters grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first, thanks to as pair of similar rebound goals from Nick Remissong and Adam Marshall. Mathieu Cobetto-Roy made it 3-0 seven minutes into the second with a hard slapshot from inside the blueline on a Trail power play.

Despite trailing 3-0, the Warriors actually had the better of the play and the better chances, but just couldn't solve Kendrick.

"I thought we played a pretty solid 60 minutes. Obviously, getting down 3-0 is never ideal...but you have to battle and fight through adversity in order to overcome that, and I thought we did that tonight," said head coach Simon Ferguson.

"You have to give (Kendrick) a lot of credit, he played real well. Even right down to the shootout he played real well.

"We got a likewise performance from Zol in our net."

Ferguson says the message between each period was basically the same...stick with the game plan and good things will happen.

"I said I think this game is going to take 67, 69 minutes with a shootout.

"We've got to battle through the adversity and overcome it and show what we can do.

"There was a stretch of games where we did not work hard enough and we didn't play hard enough, so when you do that you have to overcome adversity."

The Warriors looked like a different team, especially behind their blueline with defenceman Nolan Hayes back in the fold.

Hayes was a stabilizing influence on the blue line and contributed offensively in just his second game back after suffering an injury at the end of October.

Friday's game also featured the debut of forward Nic Porchetta, acquired earlier in the week from Powell River in a deal which saw forward Alexi Van Houtte-Cachera go the other way.

"I like his sandpaper, I like the way he competes and plays hard.

"I He's got a good shot, handles the puck well and adds a veteran presence."

With the trade deadline Tuesday the Warriors have the ability to make just one more roster move.

Ferguson says he is always looking to make the team better but won't make a move for the sake of making a move.