PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (24-9-1-0) look to make it back-to-back wins in the home-and-home set with a trip to the Central Okanagan for a matchup against the West Kelowna Warriors (5-20-4-2) on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. WEST KELOWNA
Friday, September 27th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (3-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 28th @ Royal LePage Place (7-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 6th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (5-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 7th @ Royal LePage Place (6:00 PM)
Tuesday, January 21st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Sunday, February 9th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2:00 PM)
The Vees come into Saturday night’s game looking to take both halves of the weekend home-and-home set against the Warriors after a 5-1 victory on home ice at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Friday night. Tyler Ho tallied a pair of 2nd period goals while Jackson Niedermayer brought the teddy bears to the ice, opening the scoring 47 seconds into the game. Jack Barnes and Carson Kosobud also tallied in the game while Yaniv Perets stopped 17 of the 18 shots thrown his way in his 13th win of the season.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (15-32-47)
Danny Weight (15-20-35)
Lukas Sillinger (12-22-34)
David Silye (11-22-33)
Colton Kalezic (11-15-26)
First star honours went to forward Tyler Ho on Friday night, who collected his first multi-goal game in the BCHL with two tallies in the Vees victory. The Surrey, BC native has compiled points in four of his last five games, scoring four goals while adding two assists for six points in that span and has also registered at least a point in seven of his last nine games.
Along with making the teddy bears hit the ice just 47 seconds into the hockey game on Friday night, forward Jackson Niedermayer also extended his scoring streak to three games in the process. The Arizona State University commit rides a four-game point streak into Saturday night, collecting three goals and an assist for four points in that stretch while tallying in each of his last three contests.
The five-goal effort vaulted the Vees back into the top spot in the BC Hockey League in terms of goals for on the season, collecting 126 markers as a team in 34 games played, averaging 3.71 goals per game. The Vees have registered 20 goals over their last five games while Penticton also holds the second-best goal differential in the league at +41 on the season, sitting behind Coquitlam for tops in the BCHL.
The West Kelowna Warriors come into Saturday night’s action looking to find the win column after dropping a 5-1 decision to the Vees in Penticton on Friday night. Carter Wilkie scored the lone goal in the game for the visitors while Brock Baier was busy on the night, stopping 40 of the 45 shots thrown his direction in his 11th defeat of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Lucas Cullen (7-12-19)
Max Bulawka (10-8-18)
Carter Wilkie (3-13-16)
Tyler Cristall (5-10-15)
John Evans (6-8-14)
It’s points in back-to-back games for one of the Warriors newest forwards in the way of Carter Wilkie, who the team acquired from the Chilliwack Chiefs in late November. The Calgary, Alberta native has points in two of his three games with his new club, including the lone Warriors goal on Friday night. Wilkie comes to West Kelowna after a solid rookie campaign in the BCHL, tallying 12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points in 53 games with the Chiefs a season ago.
The Warriors return to Royal LePage Place, where they have collected two of their five wins on the season. West Kelowna most recently completed a four-game home stand before heading to Penticton on Friday night, where they posted three of a possible eight points in that stretch with four of their next five games, including tonight’s matchup, slated for home ice.
After Brock Baier faced 45 shots on Friday night, the Warriors may be looking to Johnny Derrick in goal and the rookie has provided some solid play in the crease for West Kelowna. The Victoria, BC native has posted a 3.41 goals against average along with a .905 save percentage on the season and ranks 5th in each of those categories amongst rookie netminders.
The Vees and Warriors will drop the puck on the fourth of their six-game season series tonight at Royal LePage Place at 6:00 PM. The game will be broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 5:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
