Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (15-5-1-2) pushed their winning streak to five games with Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters, and tonight they welcome another division rival, the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (11-13-2-0).
Adam Scheel was the Vees best player right from the drop of the puck Wednesday; he finished with 32 saves in what was one of his finest performances of the season. Taylor Ward scored a power-play goal nearly eight minutes into the period before Owen Sillinger deflected in the eventual game winner six minutes later.
A number of point streaks were kept alive in the win despite just two goals. Sillinger has recorded points in six straight, totalling four goals and eight assists. Jonny Tychonick is on a five-game streak with a goal and 11 assists, while Ward’s streak also hit fives games with four goals and six assists.
The Silverbacks come into Friday’s game sitting in sixth place in the Interior Division with 24 points, three up on the Merritt Centennials. The team has struggled to keep pace in the division race with just three wins over their last 10 games.
The Vees find themselves in fourth place after Wednesday’s win, one point behind Wenatchee, five back of Vernon and six behind Trail. The Vees have at least two games in hand on each of the clubs ahead of them.
Salmon Arm is currently carrying three goalies on their roster with Kyle Dumba seeing the majority of game action over the past few weeks.
Penticton has matched up against the Silverbacks once this season, the second game of the year on September 15. In the game, the Vees used a five-goal first period to jump out to a big lead.
Owen Sillinger scored twice while Lukas Sillinger, Ryan Sandelin, Joe Leahy and Jared Nash scored for the Vees in the 6-2 win. It was also Scheel’s first career BCHL victory as he finished with 30 saves.
Friday is the first of three-straight home games for the Vees who welcome the Chilliwack Chiefs for a rematch of last years Fred Page Cup final on Saturday before another Wicked Wednesday against the West Kelowna Warriors November 29.
Team Statistics
Scoring Leaders
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 10 G 17 A 23 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 5 G 17 A 23 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 4 G 16 A 22 GP
Salmon Arm Silverbacks
Rhett Kingston – 11 G 15 A 22 GP
Logan Mostat – 7 G 8 A 24 GP
Noah Wakeford – 5 G 10 A 24 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 22.1% (4th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 88.0% (1st in BCHL)
Salmon Arm Silverbacks
Power play – 20.0% (9th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 75.7% (T-16th in BCHL)
Season Series
September 15, 2017 – Vees 6 @ Silverbacks 2 Boxscore
November 24, 2017 – Vees vs Silverbacks
December 6, 2017 – Vees vs Silverbacks
February 3, 2018 – Vees @ Silverbacks
February 21, 2018 – Vees @ Silverbacks
February 25, 2018 – Vees vs Silverbacks
