PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (13-1-0-1) try to make it five wins in a row as they take on the Cranbrook Bucks (2-11-0-1) for the eighth time this season on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
2021 REGULAR SEASON VS. CRANBROOK
Saturday, April 3rd vs. Cranbrook (6-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, April 9th @ Cranbrook (5-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Monday, April 12th @ Cranbrook (4-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Thursday, April 15th @ Cranbrook (7-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, April 18th vs. Cranbrook (5-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, April 21st @ Cranbrook (1-0 Bucks) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, April 24th vs. Cranbrook (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, April 30th vs. Cranbrook (7:00 PM)
Monday, May 3rd @ Cranbrook (7:00 PM)
Sunday, May 9th vs. Cranbrook (4:00 PM)
Penticton got some big offensive performances in a 7-2 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Thursday night at the SOEC. Devlin O’Brien earned his first career BCHL hat-trick while Luc Wilson, Grayson Arnott, Jacob Quillan and Fin Williams all found the back of the net. Kaeden Lane picked up his 11th win of the season in the Vees crease, stopping 28 of the 30 shots thrown his way.
The Vees and Bucks will meet for the eighth time of their ten-game season series with the two sides having not played since last Saturday when Penticton came away with a tight 3-2 victory over Cranbrook at the SOEC. Tyler Ho and Liam Malmquist scored in the opening period while Jacob Quillan tallied his league-leading fourth game winning goal of the season in the win. Kaeden Lane turned aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced in between the pipes for the victory in the Vees crease.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Luc Wilson (13-9-22)
Liam Malmquist (6-12-18)
Jacob Quillan (8-9-17)
Fin Williams (5-12-17)
Ryan Upson (5-11-16)
It was a big night offensively on Thursday with the Vees finding the back of the net 7 times against the Smoke Eaters and three of those tallies came off the stick of Devlin O’Brien, who not only collected his first BC Hockey League goal in the game but earned his first BCHL hat-trick in the process as well. The Merrimack University commit now sits five points in six games after registering his three tallies on Thursday, all coming before the 8-minute mark of the 2nd period.
The Captain, Fin Williams, also played a big part in the 7-2 triumph as the University of Michigan commit collected a career high four points in the win. Williams earned a goal and three assists in the Vees 13th win of the season while, in the process, the North Vancouver, BC native tied his billetmate Liam Malmquist for the team lead in assists with 12 helpers on the season.
Back-to-back two point nights has Vees leading scorer Luc Wilson into a tie for fourth in league scoring with 22 points on the season and his 13 goals puts him in a tie for the BCHL lead in that category. Point streaks continued on Thursday with Josh Niedermayer pushing his to 4 games, Ryan Upson has points in three of his last four games while Tyler Ho also has points in three of his last four contests.
The Cranbrook Bucks enter Friday night looking to get back in the win column after falling by a 3-0 score on Wednesday night to the Smoke Eaters at the SOEC. Nathan Airey stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in the game in his 8th loss of the season while the Bucks were held to no goals in regulation for the 3rd time this campaign.
Bucks Leading Scorers:
Zeth Kindrachuk (3-6-9)
Walker Gelbard (2-7-9)
Tyson Dyck (3-2-5)
Nathan Fox (2-3-5)
Nik Sombrowski (3-1-4)
Working through the franchise’s first season is always presented with challenges, and during a pandemic, those challenges are even greater. Cranbrook will need to find more offence out of their group, who have combined for 30 goals in 14 games so far this season, which ranks 15th in the BCHL in goals for.
The Vees and Bucks will meet for the eighth of ten times this season on Thursday night from the SOEC. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available on EZ Rock AM 800 beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM as well as BCHLTV.ca and Shaw Spotlight.
