Warriors Drop Weekend Opener 4–2 in Cranbrook
The West Kelowna Warriors couldn’t complete the comeback Friday night, falling 4–2 to the Cranbrook Bucks in the first of their two-game weekend set at Western Financial Place.
West Kelowna controlled much of the opening frame, dictating pace and zone time while limiting Cranbrook’s looks. Despite the strong start, the Warriors couldn’t find the back of the net and headed into the first intermission scoreless.
The second period swung the momentum sharply. Cranbrook opened the scoring shorthanded when Kaslo Ferner capitalized on a turnover to make it 1–0. Just 39 seconds later, the Bucks doubled their lead as Mitch Patrick snapped home a quick strike to put West Kelowna on its heels.
The Warriors responded on the power play, where they found their spark. Dylan Krayer blasted a one-timer past the Bucks’ netminder to cut the deficit in half and give West Kelowna life heading into the third.
Krayer stayed hot early in the final frame. On another Warriors power play, he buried his second of the night—and team-leading 12th of the season—to tie the game 2–2. But the celebration was short-lived. Just 11 seconds after the tying goal, West Kelowna took a penalty, and Cranbrook capitalized as Nikolaj Rupi restored the Bucks’ lead.
The Warriors continued to push late, generating pressure with the goalie pulled, but Ferner sealed the win with his second of the night into the empty cage.
Bor Glavic turned aside 18 of 21 shots in the loss. West Kelowna finished 2/5 on the power play, while Cranbrook went 1/2.
Both teams are right back at it tomorrow night at 7:00 MST in Cranbrook. Tune in on FloHockey as the Warriors look to battle back and earn a weekend split.
