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First period proves costly in 5-3 loss to Langley

Langley, BC: The Penticton Vees (37-12-2-3) made a valiant comeback effort Saturday night, but falling behind 3-0 after the opening 20 minutes against the Langley Rivermen (23-19-10-2) proved to be too much in a 5-3 loss.

Early in the game, while the Vees were shorthanded, James Miller was dangerously hit into the boards from behind resulting in a five-minute major to Eric Butte who was ejected from the game.

After four-on-four had ended, the Vees had some excellent zone time and chances on goal, but Braeden Fleming stood tall in the Langley crease, a sign of things to come.

With a little over a minute remaining on the major penalty the Vees were called for too many men on the ice resulting in more four-on-four action. This time it was the Rivermen capitalizing as Brendan Budy sent a feed down low to Trevor St. Jean who was able to redirect it past the blocker of Adam Scheel to open the scoring.

One minute later, while on the power play after four-on-four ended, Budy got a pass in the left circle and took a few strides in before firing a perfectly placed wrist shot under the bar to make it 2-0.

Late in the frame the Vees were on the power play, and Owen Sillinger appeared to score to cut it to 2-1, but the goal was waved off due to Fleming knocking the net off it’s pegs with his skate when moving side to side.

In the final minute of the period Langley added another goal as Spencer Berry took a pass while following the rush and beat Scheel through the five hole with just 36 seconds remaining.

While the first period was all Rivermen, it could be said the final 40 minutes were all Penticton. The Vees controlled play and kept the puck mostly in the Rivermen zone, and it was only when the Vees took a penalty Langley was able to answer back.

Just 20 seconds into their man advantage, Angus Crookshank deflected in a centring feed to end Scheel’s night as he was lifted after giving up four goals on 18 shots.

Penticton answered back before the second ended as Nicky Leivermann jumped on the rebound of a Luke Reid shot to make it 4-1 heading into the third. The Vees also began the final frame on a 5-on-3 power play, then pulled Nolan Hildebrand to make it a 6-on-3, but weren’t able to beat Fleming.

Jordan Henderson scored the second Vees goal, taking a drop feed in the slot and beating a screened Fleming 7:10 into the third. Taylor Ward then made it 4-3 win 5:16 to go by shovelling in a rebound in the crease.

Penticton had an offensive zone face-off with the net empty and just over a minute to play, but after winning the draw the pass across the blue line deflected off Ward’s stick and Budy was able to force it out to centre before hitting the empty net to seal the 5-3 score.

The Vees finish their Mainland Division road trip with a 4:00 game against the Surrey Eagles (25-21-6-2) Sunday afternoon.