Penticton Vees (3-0-0-1) (44-9-3-2, 1st in Interior)
West Kelowna Warriors (1-0-0-2) (29-21-0-8, 4th Interior)
GM 5 Venue: SOEC
GM 5 Face-Off: 7pm
Season Series: Oct 10th 4-3 Vees, SOEC, Oct 11th 4-0 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Nov 5th 3-2 Warriors, SOEC, Nov 29th 4-3 Warriors, SOEC, Dec 19th 4-2 Vees, SOEC, Dec 20th 7-2 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Jan 20th 8-4 Vees, Royal LePage Place
Playoff Series Schedule
Game 1 4-3 (2 OT) West Kelowna
Game 2 3-2 (OT) Penticton
Game 3 4-3 (3 OT) Penticton
Game 4: 3-2 Penticton
Game 5 March 9th (SOEC) 7pm
Game 6* March 10th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 7* March 11th (SOEC) 7pm
* If necessary
Vees Season Record vs. West Kelowna: 5-2-0-0 (Home: 2-2-0 / Away: 3-0-0)
Road Season Record: 19-6-2-2
Vees Record vs. Interior Division: 26-7-1-1
Vees Leading Scorer: Patrick Newell 16-31-47
Vees Playoff Scoring:
Dakota Conroy 2-2-4 Miles Gendron 0-3-3 Riley Alferd 0-1-1
Demico Hannoun 2-1-3 Lewis Zerter-Gossage 1-1-2 Steen Cooper 0-1-1
Tyson Jost 2-1-3 Mitch Newsome 1-1-2 Cody DePourcq 0-1-1
Mat Serratore 2-1-3 Jarod Hilderman 0-2-2 Dante Fabbro 0-1-1
Gabe Bast 1-2-3 Patrick Sexton 0-2-2 Patrick Newell 0-1-1
Connor Chartier 1-2-3 Jack Ramsey 1-0-1
Playoff Goaltending vs. West Kelowna
Hunter Miska 3-1-0 / 2.07 GAA / .939 SV %
Vees Regular Season Scoring vs. West Kelowna:
Lewis Zerter-Gossage 2-8-10 Mike Lee 1-3-4
Patrick Newell 5-4-9 Jack Ramsey 1-3-4
Demico Hannoun 4-5-9 Gabe Bast 0-3-3
Tyson Jost 4-2-6 Dante Fabbro 0-3-3
Riley Alferd 2-3-5 Matt Serratore 2-0-2
Steen Cooper 2-3-5 Patrick Sexton 1-1-2
Dakota Conroy 2-3-5 Miles Gendron 0-2-2
Cody DePourcq 1-4-5 Jarod Hilderman 0-2-2
Connor Chartier 4-0-4 Mitch Newsome 0-2-2
Mike Lee 1-3-4 Cam Amantea 0-1-1
Goaltending vs. West Kelowna:
Hunter Miska GP 6 4-2-0 / 2.51 GAA / .912 SV % / 1 SO
Brendan Barry GP 1 1-0-0 / 3.00 GAA / .857 SV %
Vees Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 31-4-2-2 (2-0-0-1) Lead after 2nd: 39-2-1-1 (1-0-0-1)
Opposition Scores 1st: 13-5-2-0 (1-0-0-0) Tied after 2nd: 4-2-2-1
Lead after 1st: 22-1-1-1 (2-0-0-0) Trail after 2nd: 3-5-0-0 (2-0-0-0)
Tied after 1st: 17-5-1-1 (1-0-0-1) More Shots: 38-9-0-1 (2-0-0-1)
Trail after 1st: 5-3-1-0 Outshot: 6-0-2-1 (1-0-0-0)
Shots Tied: 0-0-1-0
Warriors Regular Season Record vs. Penticton: 2-5-0-0
Warriors Regular Season Home Record: 18-9-0-2
Warriors Record vs. Interior Division: 16-15-0-4
Warriors Leading Scorer: Liam Blackburn 22-51-73
Warriors Playoff Scoring:
Andrew Johnson 1-4-5 Nick Rutigliano 1-1-2 Rylan Yaremko 0-1-1
Tanner Campbell 1-2-3 Brayden Gelsinger 1-1-2
Liam Blackburn 1-2-3 Jonathan Desbiens 0-2-2
Kristian Blumenschein 2-0-2 Kyle Marino 0-2-2
Josh Bly 1-1-2 Brett Mennear 0-2-2
Jason Cotton 1-1-2 Kylar Hope 1-0-1
Warriors Playoff Goaltending vs. Penticton
Scott Patton 1-1-0 / 2.42 GAA / .941 SV %
Stephen Heslop 0-2-0 / 2.51 GAA / .922 SV %
Warriors Regular Season Scoring vs. Penticton:
Brayden Gelsinger 2-4-6 Kylar Hope 1-1-2
Jonathan Desbiens 4-1-5 Braeden Jones 1-1-2
Liam Blackburn 2-3-5 Kristian Blumenschein 0-1-1
Jason Cotton 1-2-3 Tyler Kunz 0-1-1
Brett Mennear 1-2-3 Nick Rutigliano 0-1-1
Andrew Johnson 0-3-3 Rylan Yaremko 0-1-1
Josh Bly 2-0-2 Hunter Zandee 0-1-1
Tanner Campbell 1-1-2
Goaltending vs. Penticton:
Andy Desautels GP 5 2-3-0 / 4.31 GAA / .882 SV %
Scott Patton GP 1 0-1-0 / 4.70 GAA / .815 SV %
Warriors Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 20-7-0-4 (0-0-0-1) Lead after 2nd: 21-1-0-3 (0-0-0-1)
Opposition Scores 1st: 9-14-0-4 (1-1-0-1) Tied after 2nd: 2-4-0-2
Lead after 1st: 16-5-0-3 Trail after 2nd: 6-16-0-3 (1-1-0-1)
Tied after 1st: 6-4-0-2 (1-0-0-1) More Shots: 16-10-0-6 (0-0-0-1)
Trail after 1st: 7-12-0-3 (0-1-0-1) Outshot: 12-11-0-2 (1-1-0-1
Shots Tied: 1-0-0-0
What to Watch For
Vees
- Closers: The Vees have their first opportunity to eliminate the Warriors tonight and can they seize the moment? I’m sure the message to the team is taking advantage of the opportunity that is given. The Vees don’t want to make it any harder on themselves than it already is. They’ve played a lot of hockey for just playing four games. If you include all the overtime played, it’s almost six games the Vees and Warriors have played. A win tonight and they close out the series and give themselves a few days rest before facing Vernon in the Interior Division Final this weekend. Rest doesn’t come by often in the playoffs so it’s paramount for the Vees to seize that opportunity. Tonight is nights you play for in the regular season. This is why the Vees wanted to clinch home ice throughout the playoffs. Now they have the chance to knock-out the Tribe on home ice and advance to round two. It won’t be easy but can the Vees close it out in the ninth inning?
- Momentum: Something that may be lost in the dramatics of the weekend, is the fact the Vees have now won three straight games after dropping game one last Tuesday. You would think momentum is on the Vees side heading into game five because of how they won both games three and four. Like Fred Harbinson said before game four, triple-overtime games are ones you always remember and are sweeter when you’re reminiscing about a win. Game four was almost as dramatic with Dakota Conroy scoring the winner with just over two-minutes left in regulation. The Vees swept the two games in West Kelowna and have to be feeling confident playing game five on home ice. Can they continue the roll they’re on? Does West-K throw a desperate counter-punch and nab momentum back? The Vees have their opponent on the ropes, now is the time to knock them down to the matt.
- Persistence: A major key for the Vees success in this series has been their persistent approach to each game. They were down twice after two periods in this series but have managed to win both of those games. Just look at game four, where they were down 2-1 to start the third but turned the tables, scoring twice to take a 3-1 series lead. Hey, West Kelowna was 15 minutes away from tying the series before Connor Chartier tied it and then Dakota Conroy won it in the third. A big reason why the Vees are in the driver’s seat is that even keel approach they’ve had in every game, no matter what the score has been; they don’t panic. They’ll need to take that same approach tonight, as emotions will be running high. West-Kelowna will be desperate and likely come out swinging but the Vees can’t get caught up in the moment. They can’t get too comfortable if they have the lead or they can’t panic if they’re playing from behind. Be the Tortoise, not the Hare.
Warriors
- Confidence: The Warriors likely feel pretty good about their chances tonight and why not? They’ve won three of five games in Penticton this year, including splitting the first two games of the series at the SOEC. They likely feel like they could be up 3-1 in the series if a bounce here, and a bounce there went their way; hard to argue otherwise. That’s how close this series has been, as we’ve gone to overtime in three of four and every game has been decided by one goal. The home team is just 1-3 in this series so the Warriors will think they can come into Penticton and force a game six. Heck, they were 20-minutes away from taking a 2-0 series lead back in game two; it’s been that close. I’m curious to see what type of team we will see from West Kelowna tonight. Do they pull out all the stops and go at the Vees? Or is their confidence a bit shaken after losing twice at home?
- Push Back: Playing off of the previous point, what kind of response does West Kelowna have? Have they shaken off the two disappointing home losses from the weekend or are is there confidence somewhat shaken? I would lean towards the former, as I said, this has been a very tight series and anything can and already has happened. For West Kelowna, their desperation level has to be at an all-time high. No reason to hold anything back at this point; throw caution to the wind. The Warriors have to be a loose group because you can’t play not to lose; that’s where you get in trouble. Do the Warriors come out swinging and force a game six? Or do the Vees weather the storm and find a way to end the series in five?
- Difference Makers: When a team’s facing elimination, they need their top players to be just that-their top players. The Warriors will need the likes of Jason Cotton, Andrew Johnson, Liam Blackburn and if healthy, Brayden Gelsinger to lead the charge. Consistently, Johnson has been their best player in the series. The second-line center now leads the team and all scorers in this series with five points. Johnson has been dynamite in the face-off circle and the Warriors will need more of that from him. Cotton has been held scoreless since game one but that hasn’t been for a lack of effort. He’s been dangerous, especially in game three but the Tribe will need some production out of him. Blackburn seems to be heating up after missing game one, as he has three points in as many games. Gelsinger missed game four with an injury so it remains to be seen if he plays tonight. Regardless, the Warriors will need a big effort from their top players and likely big minutes as well, if this series is going back to West Kelowna tomorrow.
