Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (36-11-2-3) pounded the Coquitlam Express (14-36-1-3) 7-1 on home ice Wednesday night and will be looking for more of the same as they begin a three-game road trip against the Express Friday night.
Wednesday was a tight matchup for the first 45 minutes of the game before the Vees offence came to life in the third period. Goals from Ryan Sandelin and Owen Sillinger gave the Vees a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes before Jack McNab cut it down to a one goal game in the opening minute of the third.
After McNab’s goal the Vees took over, scoring five times in a span of 10:22 to cruise to the 7-1 win.
Sandelin scored his second of the night to restore the Vees two-goal lead before Kenny Johnson scored his first goal of the year a little over three minutes later.
Sillinger then cut to the front of the goal from the goal line before firing the puck past Clay Stevenson for his second of the night, and less than a minute later Taylor Ward found a loose puck in the Express zone before skating down the slot and firing home his 17th of the year.
The scoring was capped off by Wyatt Sloboshan as he finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play in front of the net for his sixth goal since joining the team. While Adam Scheel faced just 21 shots over the game, he was sharp in the opening two periods when the game was close.
The loss was the sixth in a row for Coquitlam who will clinch a playoff spot with either a single point over their final four games, or a Cowichan Valley Capitals loss. The Express will take the second wildcard spot and become the eighth seed in the Interior Division for the opening round, setting up a good chance for a first-round series against the Vees.
With the win Wednesday, the Vees take sole possession of first place in the BCHL standings with 77 points and still have one game in hand on the Vernon Vipers.
While Coquitlam’s record at home (10-14-1-1) is much better than their record on the road where they’ve recorded just four wins, they hold the second lowest winning percentage on home ice, ahead of only Cowichan.
Team Statistics
Leading Scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 29 G 28 A 50 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 9 G 34 A 44 GP
Taylor Ward – 17 G 19 A 40 GP
Coquitlam Express
Eric Linnel – 28 G 17 A 54 GP
Josh Wildauer – 9 G 23 A 52 GP
Sam Kozlowski – 8 G 21 A 52 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 21.2% (3rd in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 86.5% (1st in BCHL)
Coquitlam Express
Power play – 15.4% (14th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 82.0% (8th in BCHL)
Season series
February 14, 2018 – Vees 7 vs Express 1 Boxscore
February 16, 2018 – Vees @ Express
