PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (11-3-1-0) conclude their three-game home stand with the first Wicked Wednesday of the season, taking on the Trail Smoke Eaters (9-5-2-0) on Wednesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
2019/20 REGULAR SEASON VS. TRAIL
Friday, September 6th @ Trail Memorial Centre (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 7th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 23rd @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:30 PM)
Wednesday, November 6th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:30 PM)
Friday, January 10th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, January 11th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
Penticton comes into the midweek matchup after a 4-1 defeat to the Nanaimo Clippers on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Lukas Sillinger scored the lone goal while shorthanded in the 3rd period for the Vees with Yaniv Perets stopping 15 of the 18 shots he faced in his 2nd loss of the season.
The Vees and Smoke Eaters play in the third game of their six-game season series with Penticton having won the first two meetings at the beginning of the season. The Vees opened the season up with a 4-1 victory in Trail against the Smoke Eaters before finishing off the weekend series with a 7-1 win at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (8-14-22)
Danny Weight (8-10-18)
Lukas Sillinger (5-11-16)
David Silye (4-9-13)
Colton Kalezic (5-6-11)
The Vees will welcome a new face to the lineup as Conner Elliott will make his BCHL debut on Penticton’s blue line tonight as an affiliate player. The Coldstream, BC native is currently in his first season with the Okanagan Rockets of the BC Major Midget League where he has tallied 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points in his team’s 10 games this season.
Penticton remains near the top of the BCHL in terms of goals for, sitting 2nd in the league with 58 goals with Cowichan Valley’s 63 goals ranking 1st. The Vees collected their third shorthanded goal of the season on the Sillinger marker as the Regina, Saskatchewan product has tallied points in two of his last three games. Sillinger currently sits 3rd on the team with 16 points and ranks 2nd in assists with his 11.
The conclusion of the Vees three-game home stand comes tonight as the team will not take to the ice at the SOEC again until November 6th when they host the Smoke Eaters once again on another Wicked Wednesday. It’ll be a span of four games on the road for the Vees after tonight including stops in Chilliwack, Merritt, Surrey and Victoria over the course of back-to-back weekends.
The Trail Smoke Eaters come into Wednesday night’s contest riding a 10-game point streak, recently having their nine-game winning stretch come to a close after a 3-2 overtime loss on Saturday night against the Vernon Vipers at Kal Tire Place. Tyler Ghirardosi and Liam Freeborn tallied in then game for Trail while Logan Terness stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced in his second overtime loss of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Kent Johnson (9-19-28)
Michael Colella (11-14-25)
Owen Ozar (7-9-16)
Diarmad DiMurro (4-12-16)
Tyler Ghirardosi (5-3-8)
The Smoke Eaters enter Wednesday night’s game riding the best 10-game stretch in their franchise history, winning nine games and earning a point in an overtime loss on Saturday. One of the aspects of their game that has helped to the winning ways has been the power play, going 15-for-50 over the last 10 games, which sits 30.0%. The Smoke Eaters are 2nd in the league in power play percentage overall on the season, operating at a 21.9% rate.
One of two players atop the BCHL scoring lead is Smoke Eaters forward Kent Johnson, who currently is the league leader in points with his 28. The University of Michigan commit recently saw a nine-game point streak come to an end, where he amassed 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points over that span. The Port Moody, BC native leads the league in assists with 19 while sitting second in the BCHL in power play assists with 10 on the season.
The other piece of the offensive attack for Trail comes in the way of forward Michael Colella, who sits at 25 points on the season and second in the BCHL in that regard. The Colorado College commit also had a nine-game point streak come to an end on Saturday night where he tallied 9 goals and 12 assists for 23 points over those nine contests. The Turnersville, New Jersey native is tied with Alberni Valley’s Mitch Deelstra for the league lead in goals with 11.
The Vees and Smoke Eaters play the third of their six-game season series tonight with puck drop slated for 6:30 PM from the South Okanagan Events Centre on the first Wicked Wednesday of the season. Tickets are just $5 and available at the SOEC Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
