Photo Credit: Garrett James
Chilliwack, BC: The Penticton Vees (4-0-0-0) had to come from behind for the second night in a row, but an offensive explosion in the second period lead them to a 6-3 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs (1-3-1-1) Saturday night.
Less than three minutes into the first the Chiefs opened the scoring. Powell Conner’s point shot was kicked aside by Nolan Hildebrand, but he was helpless to stop Michael Lombardi on the rebound.
Halfway through the first the Vees would answer back, while shorthanded. Owen Sillinger came in on a partial break, but his backhand chance was stopped by Daniel Chenard. Sillinger centred the puck afterwards and Chris Klack was robbed by Chenard’s right pad before gathering his own rebound and sliding it into the net to tie the game.
Not long after, Chilliwack regained their lead. Conner slid the puck to the front of the net from the corner and it hit Hildebrand’s skate and was lose in the crease. Ryan Miotto was able to jam the puck in to restore the Chiefs lead heading into the second period.
It took nearly 15 minutes into the second for the Vees to score again, but the floodgates opened when they did. Ryan O’Connell had the puck on his backhand in the slot and feathered it to the front of the net for Cassidy Bowes to redirect past Chenard to tie the game.
A little under three minutes later, Nicky Leivermann got on the board with his first career goal. After faking a slap shot at the left point, Leivermann skated to the left face-off circle and toe dragged around another defender before wiring a wrist shot into the top corner over Chenard’s glove.
Thirty-four seconds later, Jared Nash converted on a three-on-one rush by shooting from the right face-off circle and beating Chenard five hole. Nearly a minute later, Klack put on a great forechecking display by stealing the puck from Will Cleverly at the Chiefs goal line and causing him to take a tripping penalty.
Fifteen seconds into the power play, Massimo Rizzo fired a shot from the slot that beat Chenard for his first career goal, giving the Vees the 5-2 lead after 40 minutes. All told, the Vees scored four times in 4:32 to finish the frame.
Exactly at the ten minute mark of the third, Sillinger scored his fourth goal of the season, also on the power play, to extend the lead to 6-2. Sillinger was also celebrating his 20th birthday.
Chilliwack got one goal back in the third period. Similar to their first goal, a one timer from the slot was kicked aside by Hildebrand, but Skyler Brind’a’mour pounced on the rebound to make the final score 6-3.
The Vees improved their record to 4-0 on the year, and 12-0 all time at the BCHL Showcase. Next up is the home opener for Penticton, September 29 against the West Kelowna Warriors.
