Wild Power Past Warriors In 4-3 Overtime Thriller

The Wenatchee Wild wrapped up their short two-game homestand on Saturday night with an exciting 4-3 win in sudden death overtime over the West Kelowna Warriors.

The visitors from West Kelowna scored first as Max Bulawka snapped home a rebound on the power play at 5:58 of the opening period. The Wild tied the game on a Tyler Young one-timer just over a minute later, assisted by Nick Cherkowski and Brett Chorske. At 6:42 of the second period, defenseman Drew Bavaro wired a shot through from the left point on a power play to give the Wild a 2-1 lead, but the Warriors drew even on a John Evans power play wrister that found the high blocker side corner. Wenatchee responded to retake the lead on a crisp passing play that saw Luke Ormsby redirect a Jack Bayless feed from the right circle under the crossbar, also with a man advantage. Less than a minute later, West Kelowna defender Ryan Novecosky slid a shot past a diving Brian Adams and through traffic to draw even at 3-3, where it remained at the end of the second.

The Wild had two power play chances in the third period but were unable to notch a go-ahead marker, and the game would go into sudden death overtime. The Warriors took a cross-checking penalty 1:33 into the extra session, setting up a 4-on-3 power play for the Wild. From the left circle, Brett Chorske delivered a crossing pass to Trevor Griebel on the right wing, and when his shot found traffic in front, Hunter Hastings collected the puck and flung it past the Warrior goalie for his first career Junior A goal, a game winning power play goal in overtime. Noah Altman posted his second win of the year in as many starts, stopping 28 of 31 shots.

Wenatchee (6-4-2) heads out on a three game Island Division road swing with stops in Alberni Valley on Friday, Cowichan Valley on Saturday, and Victoria on Sunday afternoon. The Friday game will be broadcast live on NewsRadio 560 KPQ, and the other two on SportsRadio 1340 The Hawk.

Game recaps provided Arch Ecker and the Wenatchee Wild.