The Cranbrook Bucks showed championship mettle on Tuesday night at Western Financial Place, earning a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors in Game 3 of their BCHL playoff series. With the win, the Bucks seized a 2-1 series advantage and sent a clear message: they’re built for the postseason grind.
The game opened with West Kelowna testing the Bucks early, but Cranbrook’s penalty kill and timely special teams play flipped the momentum. After taking back-to-back penalties from the Warriors, the Bucks struck first on the power play at 4:15 of the first period. Adam Csabi (#10) buried a beautiful feed from Matthew Gilmore (#9) and Samuel Lyne (#11), giving the home side a 1-0 lead.
Cranbrook carried that momentum into the second period and struck again quickly on the man advantage. At 3:35, Konstantin Hutzinger (#14) fired home the eventual game-winner, with Gilmore and Camden Charron (#8) picking up the assists. The Bucks now led 2-0 and had converted both of their power-play opportunities.
West Kelowna refused to go away quietly. Later in the middle frame, Dylan Krayer (#14) cut the deficit in half at 11:06 with an even-strength tally assisted by Alexandre Lallier (#23), making the score 2-1 heading into the final period.
The third period became a defensive masterclass for the Bucks. West Kelowna unleashed an overwhelming 19 shots to Cranbrook’s 4, but netminder Jason Tremblay (#29) was simply outstanding. The 60-minute veteran turned aside all 19 third-period shots and finished the night with 46 saves on 47 shots faced — a remarkable .978 save percentage. Tremblay earned first-star honours and was the biggest reason the Bucks escaped with the victory.
Matthew Gilmore was a standout offensively as well, notching two assists in the contest, while Charron added a helper from the back end. Samuel Lyne was named the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game for his strong all-around effort, including the primary assist on the opening goal.
It’s an impressive feat against the league’s best regular-season team when you also factor in that the Bucks were missing two key forwards in Kaslo Ferner and Mitch Patrick (Susp).
Key Game Stats
- Final Score: Cranbrook Bucks 2, West Kelowna Warriors 1
- Shots: Warriors 47 – Bucks 23
- Power Play: Bucks 2-for-4 | Warriors 0-for-2
- Goaltenders: Jason Tremblay (W) 46/47 | Angelo Zol (L) 21/23
The Bucks will now look to build on this momentum and take a commanding 3-1 series lead when the two teams clash again tonight in Game 4. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM MDT at Western Financial Place.
Tickets are still available — don’t miss your chance to be part of the herd! 🎟️ https://www.cranbrookbucks.ca/tickets/
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