PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (27-10-1-0) conclude a decade of hockey and wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule as they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals (22-12-3-1) on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. COWICHAN VALLEY
Friday, September 21st @ Cowichan Community Centre (6-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 21st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
The Vees enter Saturday night’s contest having won each of their last four home games, including a 4-0 victory over the Powell River Kings on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Tristan Amonte, Lukas Sillinger, Danny Weight and David Silye each tallied in the game while Yaniv Perets turned aside each of the 19 shots he faced in the game for his 5th shutout of the season and his 17th win in between the pipes.
Penticton will look to sweep the season series against the Capitals with the two teams meeting exactly three months ago and the Vees coming out of Duncan as 6-0 victors in late September at the Cowichan Community Centre. Tristan Amonte, Lukas Sillinger, former Vee Alex DiPaolo, Jackson Niedermayer, David Silye and Jay O’Brien each scored in the game while Yaniv Perets made saves on all 18 shots thrown his way for the shutout victory in between the pipes.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (15-32-47)
Danny Weight (16-23-39)
Lukas Sillinger (14-25-39)
David Silye (13-24-37)
Colton Kalezic (11-15-26)
The Vees are set to play their final game of the 2010 decade when they host the Capitals on Saturday night. Penticton has earned 418 wins over the span of 583 games played during the 2010’s, amassing a record of 418-122-26-2-15 in that time. That record is good enough for a .753 winning percentage over the course of the 10 years heading into Saturday night’s contest.
Yaniv Perets posted his 5th shutout of the season in Friday night’s 4-0 victory over the Kings, tied with Nanaimo Clippers netminder Jordan Naylor for the league lead in that department. The Quinnipiac University commit has won five of his last six starts, earning two shutouts and surrendering just seven goals in that span. The Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec native has allowed just two goals in his last three games and sits 3rd in the BCHL in goals against average at 2.00 while ranking 5th in save percentage at .921.
Vees forward Lukas Sillinger kept his strong string of play going on Friday night, helping the Vees with a goal and an assist in the 4-0 victory. The University of Nebraska-Omaha commit has tallied points in six of his last eight games, scoring three goals and adding six assists for nine points in that time while placing in a tie for second on the team with 39 points on the season.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals come into Saturday night’s matchup in the midst of a three-game Interior Division road trip, beginning with a 4-3 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Friday night at the Trail Memorial Centre. Matthew Crasa, Tanner Sidaway and Cruz Cote each found the back of the net for the Caps while Zach Borgiel made 24 saves on 28 shots in his 8th loss of the season.
Capitals Scoring Leaders:
Luc Wilson (13-27-40)
Dimitri Mikrogiannakis (6-31-37)
Matthew Crasa (21-12-33)
Olivier Gauthier (10-19-29)
Primo Self (6-22-28)
Capitals forward Matthew Crasa has injected plenty of offence into his squad after being a late September add for Mike Vandekamp’s group. The New York, New York native has scored 21 goals in his 31 games played this season, tallying a total of 33 points in those 31 contests. Crasa has earned points in four of his last five games, scoring four goals and adding an assist for five points over that span, including three goals in his last two outings while sitting in a tie for 2nd in the league in goal scoring with his 21 tallies.
The Capitals come into Penticton with some strong special teams helping them as they rank fourth in the league in power play percentage at 24.1%. Cowichan Valley has converted on the man advantage in two of their last four games, going 1-for-7 in their loss a night ago to the Smoke Eaters. The flip side has seen the Capitals go to the penalty kill a total of 166 times this season, sitting 6th in the league in that regard while ranking 7th in penalty killing at 82.5%.
A home heavy month of December finishes on the road for the Capitals, who won three of four games over a four-game home stand to begin the 12th month of the year. The schedule sees a lot of time on the road for Cowichan Valley once the calendar flips to 2020, playing four of their next five games away from home and five of their next eight games played away from the Cowichan Community Centre.
The Vees and Capitals drop the puck on the final game of 2019 at 6:00 PM from the South Okanagan Events Centre. Tickets are available for purchase at the Valley First Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
