For the second consecutive season the Vernon Vipers saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Penticton Vees. Easton Brodzinski scored a pair and the Vees power-play torched the Vipers, in a 5-0 win in game Five of their Interior Division Semi-Final.
The Vees win the best-of-seven series 4-1 and advance to their fifth consecutive Interior Division Final.
VIDEO: Easton Brodzinski’s Firs of Two Goals
Brodzinski (2), Mitch Brooks, Nic Jones and Tyson Jost scored in the series clinching win, and Zach Driscoll made 26-saves for his first shutout of the post-season, as nearly three thousand fans cheered on the Vees at the SOEC.
The Penticton power-play burned Vernon for three goals, including one just seconds into the game. After Vernon’s Riley Brandt took a penalty on the game’s first shift, it was the Vees’ top unit capitalizing quickly. Coming off a two-goal game Wednesday, Jones opened the scoring Friday, banging in a rebound at the side of the net at 1:16; his fifth of the series.
The first was highlighted by a run of penalties, as the two teams combined for 12-minutes in penalties, with the Vees being short-handed three times. The penalty-kill helped preserve a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Penticton shook off the early penalty trouble and found another gear in the second period, exploding for four goals in the first eight-minutes. Brooks doubled the home team’s lead inside the first minute, roofing a feed from Owen Sillinger from behind the net, 58-seconds into the frame.
Then the Vees put together a dominate shift in the Vipers zone and after a minute of sustained pressure, Brodzinski buried his first of two in the period. The puck came to Brodzinski in the slot but his first shot was blocked. But the Vees’ forward got it right back and picked the corner over the goalie’s blocker at 3:26.
The home side kept coming and the Captain padded the lead just over two-minutes after the Brodzinski goal. On another Penticton power-play, Dante Fabbro made a heck of a play, firing a slap-pass to the side of the net that was neatly tipped-in by Jost at 6:07; his fourth of the post-season.
The scoring flurry ended when Brodzinski scoring his second of the frame, nine-minutes in, and did so without his stick. Scott Conway walked to the middle and fired a shot, that ended up hitting a Vernon stick, then Brodzinski in the face, before fluttering up and over the goalie and in; Brodzinski heading in his third at 8:59.
Zach Driscoll picked up his third win of the series and his third shutout in five games against Vernon, dating back to the regular season.
Final Score: 5-0 Vees
Shots: 32-26 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 3-8 Vernon 0-5
Three Stars: 1) Easton Brodzinski 2) Zach Driscoll 3) Dante Fabbro
Attendance: 2,993
If you include the regular season, the Vees finished with a 10-1 record in 11 games against the Vipers this season. Scott Conway had three assists Friday and led the team in scoring in the series with 10 points. If you group in the regular season, Conway had 16 goals and 27 points against the Vipers. In the final two games of the series, the Vees outscored the Vipers 11-2.
Penticton will face the winner of the West Kelowna, Salmon Arm series in the Interior Division Final, which starts Friday, March 18th, at the SOEC.
