West Kelowna looks to take stranglehold on first-round series vs Vernon

The West Kelowna Warriors and the Vernon Vipers hit the ice tonight (April 6) for game four of their first-round BCHL playoff series.

After Vernon took game one last Friday night, the Warriors have won the last two games to lead the series 2-1. Through the first three games, the Warriors are outscoring the Vipers 13-10.

Warriors forward Tyler Cristall, defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault and Vernon forward Cameron MacDonald are all tied for the series lead with five points each. Warriors forward Christophe Farmer is coming off a four-point game in game three of this series.

The Warriors know they’ve been getting great goaltending in the series from Johnny Derrick.

“We got really good goaltending from Johnny and I think he stole the show,” said Warriors Head Coach & General Manager Simon Ferguson. “When you have really good goaltending like that it really helps.”

Derrick made 33 saves in game three and has made 88 saves on 97 shots in the series.

One of the biggest differences in the series so far has been special teams. Vernon’s penalty kill has struggled against West Kelowna’s powerplay as the Warriors are 5-11 with the man-advantage. Vernon is 2-9 on the powerplay.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. tonight at Kal Tire Place for game four of this series. The Warriors will host game five on Friday, April 8.

The game is available to watch on BCHLTV, and the Shaw Spotlight Channel. The Warriors radio feed is available on the Warriors Mixlr Radio Network while the Vipers radio feed is on 107.5 Beach Radio.

Here are the highlights from game three.