Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (26-9-2-3) remained undefeated in 2018 with a 6-2 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs Saturday night and now make the long trek north to face the Prince George Spruce Kings (21-13-4-4) for the second time in 13 days.
Saturday the Vees found themselves trailing 1-0 after the opening period in which they mustered just four shots on goal. The team found their footing in the intermission and came out looking like a different team to begin the second period.
Chris Klack scored his first goal since returning from injury early in the period to tie the game before James Miller hammered a one timer from the blue line on the power play to give the Vees a 2-1 lead halfway through the period.
Dakota Boutin added his 15th goal of the year before the Chiefs scored just 10 seconds into a four-minute power play to cut the lead down to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Early in the third Penticton regained their two-goal lead as Marcus Mitchell scored his fourth goal in seven games with the Vees off a heavy forecheck. Wyatt Sloboshan showed off some stick handling ability later in the frame to set up an easy rebound goal for Klack, and Boutin added his second of the game into an empty net to seal the final 6-2 score.
Prince George had just one game last weekend, a 2-1 loss at home to the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Despite outshooting Cowichan 39-15, the Capitals scored the winning goal with just over five minutes to play in the third period.
With the loss, the Spruce Kings drop to 2-3-1-2 over their last eight games, yet still remain tied for first place in the Mainland Division with 50 points. Three teams currently sit at 50 points in the Mainland with Surrey and Langley sharing top spot with the Spruce Kings.
Prince George was in Penticton January 5, that night Taylor Ward scored just seven seconds into double overtime to end a five-game losing streak for the Vees.
Thursday’s game kicks off a very unique weekend of games for Penticton as after the game the team will head straight home before preparing for home games Friday and Saturday against the Merritt Centennials and Trail Smoke Eaters.
Team Statistics
Leading Scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 20 G 18 A 38 GP
Dakota Boutin – 16 G 14 A 40 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 7 G 22 A 36 GP
Prince George Spruce Kings
Ethan De Jong – 13 G 29 A 36 GP
Ben Brar – 19 G 20 A 42 GP
Ben Poisson – 14 G 23 A 42 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 20.3% (6th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 86.6% (1st in BCHL)
Prince George Spruce Kings
Power play – 13.9% (15th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 82.8% (7th in BCHL)
Season Series
January 5, 2018 – Vees 2 vs Spruce Kings 1 OT2 Boxscore
January 18, 2018 – Vees @ Spruce Kings
