PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (20-3-0-1) return from the holiday break to begin a three-game week against the West Kelowna Warriors (16-9-0-0) on Wednesday night at Royal LePage Place.
2021/22 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. WEST KELOWNA
Tuesday, November 23rd @ Royal LePage Place (6-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 18th @ Royal LePage Place (5-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, December 29th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 31st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, January 1st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, January 7th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, March 16th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:30 PM)
The Vees and Warriors meet for the third time this season with the two teams clashing in the final game ahead of the holiday break. Grayson Arnott and Fin Williams scored the goals for the Vees in the opening period but would not be enough for the victory. Mason Dunsford turned aside 23 of the 26 shots thrown in his direction in his 1st loss of the season.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Luc Wilson (14-23-37)
Fin Williams (12-23-35)
Josh Nadeau (18-14-32)
Brett Moravec (13-11-24)
Bradly Nadeau (10-12-22)
Winning 20 of their first 24 games of the season before heading into the holiday break, the Vees will look to keep the strong momentum rolling from the beginning of their campaign. Penticton leads the league in each of goals for (124) and goals against (52) and possesses the best goal differential in the BC Hockey League at +72. Coming into the unofficial second half of the season, the Vees are the lone team in the BCHL with 20 wins on the season, sitting atop both the Interior Conference and BCHL standings with 30 games remaining in the season.
To go along with their winning ways over the course of the opening part of the season, the Vees have been a very good team when holding a lead this season but also when they need to come from behind and come back in a game. Penticton is 16-1-0-1 on the year when scoring first and 11-2-0-0 when leading after the first period. The Vees are also 15-0-0-0 when holding a lead after 40 minutes of play and 6-0-0-1 when tied after 20 minutes. When they have needed a comeback effort, Penticton is 3-1-0-0 when trailing after the 1st period and 2-1-0-1 when trailing after the 2nd frame.
The Vees will look to a different face in goal tonight as newcomer Carter Serhyenko will make his first appearance with Penticton. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native comes to the Vees after playing each of the last three seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League. The 6’4”, 198-pound netminder participated in Calgary Flames Development Camp ahead of the season.
The West Kelowna Warriors play in the second of what will end up being five consecutive matchups against the Vees after winning the last meeting by a 5-2 score at Royal LePage Place on December 18th. Elan Bar-Lev-Wise, John Evans, Brennan Nelson, Charles-Alexis Legault and Felix Trudeau were the goal scorers in the win for West Kelowna while Johnny Derrick made 27 saves on 29 shots in his 12th win of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Felix Trudeau (18-15-33)
Elan Bar-Lev-Wise (13-13-26)
Tyler Cristall (14-11-25)
John Evans (8-13-21)
Marcus Joughin (2-19-21)
With two assists in their last matchup before a 10-day break, Warriors forward Tyler Cristall continued on a strong stretch of play over his last 20 games, earning a point in all but one of those games. The St. Lawrence University commit is riding a four-game point streak after serving a three-game suspension, collecting three goals and four assists for seven points over that span. The North Vancouver, BC native has earned three multi-point efforts in his last four games to sit third in team scoring with 25 points on the season.
Royal LePage Place has been a good place for the Warriors over the course of their 12 games on home ice this season, collecting 8 wins in that span including their last victory against the Vees earlier in the month. West Kelowna sits 5th in the league with a .667 winning percentage at home this season, having outscored their opponents by a 51-36 margin while also ranking 5th in the league in power play goals at home, registering 15 markers on the man advantage at RLP over the course of 12 games.
The Vees and Warriors play the third of their seven-game season series and the second of five consecutive head-to-head matchups on Wednesday night at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
