GAME 175 -- Kelowna Knights (5) def. Vancouver Whalers (2)

VANCOUVER -- It was surprising to the Whalers, to say the least. While they expected a war to be waged in Vancouver, they did not anticipate the onslaught of the Kelowna Knights. Kelowna managed to outshoot Vancouver 42-23, and outscore them 5-2 in the victory.

It all started early, as the teams got heated and Adriana Starosta took a holding minor. It would be repaid in full later on, but it was just the start of the back and forth between the two teams. Just over 30 seconds after Starosta was released from the prison, Lykke Bergfalk took a short skip feed from Beau Bent and stole the show for a moment with a great backhand past the Maximilian Wehner for the first goal of the game.

Once again everything was back and forth for a while. The Whalers seemed to lose their temper for a moment as Ace Redding and Steven Stamkos Jr both took bad penalties, but nothing came of the powerplays. Justs Sirmais, the leader of the Knights offense, was able to power a good breakout pass late in the first period to Geronimo Otto during a line change. Otto decided to take the opportunity and took control of Wehner, leading him out of position and roofing the puck for the 2-0 lead.

Into the second period, Levi Kubrak scored just 91 seconds into the frame to break the shutout for Aittokallio. Meanwhile, the onslaught of Knights shots continued on Wehner, who was struggling to maintain his positioning. Beau Bent scored at exactly three minutes into the second period off a feed from Alex Light on a two-on-one break. The outlet was strong, and the finish was even better.

Just three minutes later, Justs Sirmais was the final nail in the coffin for Wehner. Maximilian Wehner was pulled as Sirmais sniped by his 23rd goal of the season. Wehner stopped 13-of-17 shots in the contest.

Triforce Link took the vacated spot in the crease for Vancouver, and in his haste to join the game appeared to have forgotten to stretch. Jason Aittokallio got an assist, as he tapped the puck off to Cara Hohenberg, who launched it to Michael Burrows. Burrows, on the breakaway, did the Forsberg and stretched out wide to tap the puck past the line while Link was unable to make the stretch.

That would be the final goal for the Knights. Theodore Graham and Lykke Bergfalk fought to end the period, with Graham winning and helping to push momentum to the side of the Whalers but it appeared too late.

Levi Kubrak scored his second goal of the game just over seven minutes into the third period, and some more fireworks went off but nothing substantial occurred.

Jason Aittokallio stopped 21-of-23 shots for the win, while Triforce Link in his limited time on ice stopped 24-of-25 shots. The Whalers stars were held down in the game, as Ace Redding went scoreless on 6 shots and Steven Stamkos Jr was scoreless on 5.

Beau Bent led the game in shots with 7, and had one goal. Dieter Dominique struggled like his counterparts on the opposite team, failing to find the net on 5 shots.

Justs Sirmais was the first star of the game with 16 face-off wins on 28 attempts, 2 points including a goal on 6 shots, and a +3 rating. Vancouver's Levi Kubrak was second star with two goals on three shots and the only positive rating on the Whalers at a +1. Michael Burrows was third star with two points, including a goal on two shots in only 12:21 of ice time.