Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (22-6-1-2) had their 12-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Vernon Vipers on Saturday, and now look to head into the Christmas break with a pair of wins beginning Friday night against the West Kelowna Warriors (17-15-1-0).
The Vees were shutout for the first time this year, 4-0, at the hands of the Vipers who fended off Penticton to stay in first place in the BCHL. After killing off a full two-minute five-on-three power play early in the game, the Vees appeared as though they would escape the first period tied at zero.
With just two seconds left in the period, Niko Karamanis deflected in a point shot to give the Vipers a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.
Six minutes after Jagger Williamson made it 2-0 the Vipers scored two goals just 16 seconds apart thanks to Sam Anzai and Jimmy Lambert. That spelled the end of the night for Adam Scheel who was lifted after giving up the four goals on 28 shots. Nolan Hildebrand took over and didn’t give up a goal the rest of the night, facing eight shots.
West Kelowna was also in action Saturday, dropping a 5-3 game at home to the Trail Smoke Eaters. Leading 2-1 after the first, the Warriors surrendered three goals in the second and found themselves trailing 4-3 through 40.
Carter Jones led the way for Trail, scoring a hat trick while Braeden Tuck wasn’t far behind with two goals and an assist. Adam Marcoux made his first appearance in net for Trail after being acquired from the Cowichan Valley Capitals, finishing with 33 saves.
The Vees and Warriors met just a week ago at the South Okanagan Events Centre, a 5-2 Penticton win. Cassidy Bowes was named the games first star after two-goal performance while Scheel 33 saves in goal. Unfortunately the win was overshadowed due to the injury to forward Grant Cruikshank, who broke his ankle in the first period.
Friday will be the final meeting of the season between the Vees and Warriors with Penticton holding a 4-1 edge in the season series. The Vees have outscored the Warriors 24-10 over the first five games.
Team Statistics
Leading scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 13 G 17 A 31 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 7 G 20 A 30 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 5 G 18 A 25 GP
West Kelowna Warriors
Jared Marino – 12 G 18 A 33 GP
Chase Dubois – 12 G 14 A 31 GP
Michael Ryan – 3 G 21 A 33 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 21.5% (5th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 89.1% (1st in BCHL)
West Kelowna Warriors
Power play – 21.3% (6th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 82.3% (8th in BCHL)
Season Series
September 29, 2017 – Vees 2 vs Warriors 1 Boxscore
November 3, 2017 – Vees 3 @ Warriors 4 Boxscore
November 17, 2017 – Vees 11 @ Warriors 3 Boxscore
November 29, 2017 – Vees 3 vs Warriors 0 Boxscore
December 8, 2017 – Vees 5 vs Warriors 2 Boxscore
December 15, 2017 – Vees @ Warriors
