Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (22-5-1-2) winning streak is at an even dozen games after Friday’s 5-2 win over the West Kelowna Warriors, and all eyes may be on Kal Tire Place tonight as the Vees take on the Vernon Vipers (22-7-1-4) in a battle for first place.
Last night, Cassidy Bowes scored twice while Adam Scheel finished with 33 saves as the Vees downed the West Kelowna Warriors at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
While the game was tied at one after the first period, the Vees took a 3-1 lead into the third after goals from Taylor Ward and Bowes. Owen Sillinger appeared to have scored as well, but the goal was waved off for goalie interference after originally being called a goal.
Bowes added his second of the night before West Kelowna cut the lead down to two with a power-play goal with 4:23 left in regulation. Jackson Keane ended any hopes of a comeback with the empty-net goal with only seven seconds left.
The Vipers, meanwhile, were in Salmon Arm at the Shaw Centre Friday night, playing to a 3-1 win over the Silverbacks. Salmon Arm opened the scoring on their teddy bear toss night to lead 1-0 after the first, but Vernon scored two goals just 2:22 apart in the second to take a lead into the third.
Sam Anzai hit the empty net with only five seconds left as the Vipers rebounded after a tough 3-2 overtime loss on home ice to the Coquitlam Express.
Friday’s game will be the fifth meeting of the year between the long time Interior Division rivals, all previous games being home-and-home series.
October 6 the Vees came out on top 3-2, but not without some late-game drama as the Vipers thought they had scored with under a second left to tie the game. After a lengthy review, it was determined the puck did not cross the line before time expired.
The following night, Scheel stood on his head with 38 saves as the two teams played a 2-2 tie after 70 minutes. November 10 it was another 2-2 draw, this time in front of over 3,000 fans at the SOEC. 15-year-old Jack Finley scored his first career BCHL goal for Penticton as an affiliate in the game, his first ever junior game.
The next night, Penticton’s defence counted for three of their four goals as Jordan Henderson, Jonny Tychonick and Ryan O’Connell scored in the 4-1 Vees victory.
Vernon currently sits in first place in the BCHL with 49 points, just two above the Vees. Penticton has four games in hand.
The sixth and final meeting of the year won’t come until February 10 in Penticton.
Team Statistics
Leading scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 13 G 17 A 30 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 6 G 20 A 29 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 5 G 18 A 25 GP
Vernon Vipers
Jimmy Lambert – 13 G 29 A 31 GP
Brett Stapely – 17 G 21 A 31 GP
Michael Ufberg – 5 G 27 A 34 G
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 21.6% (2nd in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 89.3 (1st in BCHL)
Vernon Vipers
Power play – 20.2% (8th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 83.2% (5th in BCHL)
Season Series
October 6, 2017 – Vees 3 vs Vipers 2 Boxscore
October 7, 2017 – Vees 2 @ Vipers 2 Boxscore
November 10, 2017 – Vees 2 vs Vipers 2 Boxscore
November 11, 2017 – Vees 4 @ Vipers 1 Boxscore
