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GAME PREVIEW: Vees Clash With Smoke Eaters In Search Of Fifth Straight Win

PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography

The Penticton Vees (4-0-0-0) aim for their fifth straight win to open the 2021 shortened BC Hockey League season as they take on the Trail Smoke Eaters (2-3-0-0) on Sunday evening from the South Okanagan Events Centre.

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2021 REGULAR SEASON VS. TRAIL

Friday, April 2nd @ Trail (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)

Thursday, April 8th @ Trail (6-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)

Sunday, April 11th vs. Trail (4:00 PM)

Wednesday, April 14th @ Trail (7:00 PM)

Saturday, April 17th vs. Trail (6:00 PM)

Friday, April 23rd vs. Trail (7:00 PM)

Monday, April 26th @ Trail (7:00 PM)

Thursday, April 29th @ Trail (7:00 PM)

Sunday, May 2nd vs. Trail (4:00 PM)

Saturday, May 8th vs. Trail (6:00 PM)

The Vees look to push their season-opening win streak to five games after collecting their fourth consecutive win on Friday night in a 5-3 triumph over the Cranbrook Bucks. Liam Malmquist, Crae Dawson, Ryan McGuire, Jacob Quillan and Luc Wilson added singles in the victory while Kaeden Lane turned aside 15 of the 18 shots thrown his way in his 4th win of the season.

Penticton and Trail meet for the third of ten times this season with the Vees collecting two wins in the opening meetings including a 6-0 shutout victory on Thursday night. Luc Wilson scored twice in the game while Grayson Arnott, Tyler Ho, Fin Williams and Frank Djurasevic added single tallies in the victory. Kaeden Lane turned aside each of the 20 shots thrown his way in his first BCHL shutout and the victory in between the pipes.

Vees Leading Scorers:

Luc Wilson (4-5-9)

Jacob Quillan (2-4-6)

Fin Williams (1-4-5)

Frank Djurasevic (2-2-4)

Liam Malmquist (1-3-4)

The Vees have a pair of victories over each of the Smoke Eaters and Bucks to begin the season and winning games in the early part of the year was something that Penticton did very well to open the Okanagan Cup as well as the 2019/20 season. The Vees won their first nine games of the exhibition campaign after being victorious in their first eleven games of the 2019/20 season and now will search for their fifth win to begin the 2021 year.

Veteran forward Luc Wilson has been the most consistent Vee offensively so far this season and sits with 9 points in the team’s opening four games, good for top spot on the squad and tied for 3rd in the league. The Duncan, BC native has posted points in each of the Vees first four games to begin the season and is coming off of his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist in Thursday’s win.

Another Vees forward who has points in each of his team’s first four games is Jacob Quillan, who scored the game-winning goal in Friday night’s victory over the Bucks. The Quinnipiac University commit owns a pair of goals and four assists for six points including goals on the power play and a shorthanded tally.

The Smoke Eaters enter the night with a 2-3-0-0 record and collected their second win of the season in a 4-2 triumph over the Bucks on Saturday night at the SOEC. Jackson Krill, Carson Hemenway, Zack Feaver and Quinn Disher each found the back of the net for the Smoke Eaters while Logan Terness turned aside 33 of the 35 shots for his second win of the season.

Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:

Quinn Disher (2-4-6)

Noah Wakeford (3-2-5)

Coalson Wolford (2-2-4)

Ryan Helliwell (0-4-4)

Kalen Szeto (1-2-3)

Logan Terness nabbed first star honours on Saturday night with his best performance of the season in between the pipes, making 33 saves including a flurry of saves in the beginning of the 2nd period and some timely 3rd period stops in the victory. The University of Connecticut commit was the winner of the Rookie of the Year in the BCHL for the 2019/20 season, posting a 27-10 record during the campaign with a 2.36 goals against average and a .932 save percentage with one shutout in 44 games played.

The Vees and Smoke Eaters play in the third of their ten-game season series on Sunday evening from the SOEC. Puck drop is slated for 4:00 PM with the game available to listen on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as watch on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com and Shaw Spotlight beginning with the pre-game show at 3:40.