The West Kelowna Warriors have been a different team since last month’s trade deadline and they showcased it on Sunday.

On the road against one of the league’s best teams, the Warriors skated stride for stride with the Penticton Vees in a 5-4 overtime loss.

West Kelowna had a pair of leads in the first period thanks to goals by Tyler Cristall and Holden Kodak and went into the locker room up 2-1.

Conner Hutchison and Jackson Niedermayer both scored for the Vees in the middle frame, giving Penticton a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.

The back-and-forth affair would continue in the third, however, as Cristall scored his second of the night before Carter Wilkie gave the Warriors their third lead of the night.

Photo Credit: Tami Quan Photography

But it was a short lived lead thanks to another tally from Niedermayer, who won a foot race with Skyler Cameron to get to a loose puck before beating Johnny Derrick for a second time on the night.

 It looked like the Warriors might pull off the upset in overtime as they went to the powerplay, but the Vees killed off the penalty and Nico Somerville managed to score the game winner a short time later.

A hard-fought game against their Okanagan rivals to the south will surely give the Warriors some more confidence and they’ll be back at it on Wednesday in Salmon Arm.