PHOTO: Tami Quan/Tami Quan Photography
The Penticton Vees (35-11-1-1) head out on the road for the final time in the 2019/20 regular season to face-off against the West Kelowna Warriors (11-26-5-2) on Tuesday 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 (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, January 21st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Sunday, February 9th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2:00 PM)
Penticton comes into Tuesday night’s game searching for their fifth win in a row after completing a three-win week with a 2-1 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Steve Holtz opened the scoring for the Vees with a shorthanded tally in the 1st period before Tristan Amonte scored the eventual game winning marker in the 2nd period to help Penticton to the win. Yaniv Perets stopped.
The Vees will look to keep their winning ways against the Warriors alive in tonight’s matchup, having won each of the first four games of the season series, including a 3-2 victory at Royal LePage Place in the teams’ last meeting at the beginning of December to conclude a home-and-home set. Jackson Niedermayer scored twice in the game while Liam Malmquist added a single in the win with Carl Stankowski turning aside 18 of the 20 shots he faced for the win in the Vees crease.
Vees Leading Scorers:
David Silye (19-33-52)
Jay O’Brien (17-33-50)
Lukas Sillinger (16-32-48)
Danny Weight (20-27-47)
Jackson Niedermayer (18-17-35)
Scoring in back-to-back games has seen Vees forward Tristan Amonte shoot up to 7th in team scoring with 15 goals and 32 points this season. The Norwell, Massachusetts native has collected points in three of his last four contests, scoring 3 goals while adding an assist for 4 points through that time. The Vees forward tallied his 6th game winning marker of the season in Saturday night’s victory, tying Jay O’Brien for the team lead in that regard and sitting tied for 3rd in the BCHL in game winning goals.
Penticton will play in their final road game of the 2019/20 regular season tonight with their matchup against the Warriors in West Kelowna. The Vees hold a 21-7-0-0 record away from home this season, which is tops in the BCHL, while they have outscored teams by a 110-71 margin on the road. Coupled with those scoring numbers is the Vees power play, which has operated at a 23.0% clip while away from home, good for 3rd in the league.
The West Kelowna Warriors enter the mid-week matchup against the Vees having won three of their last four games including a 3-2 shootout victory over the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place. John Evans and Deegan Mofford each tallied in regulation for the Warriors, coming from behind by a two-goal deficit before Evans and Tyler Cristall scored in the shootout. Johnny Derrick made 27 saves on 29 shots as well as stopping each of the two shooters he faced in the shootout for the win in the Warriors crease.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
John Evans (13-17-30)
Tyler Cristall (11-19-30)
Carter Wilkie (9-17-26)
Nicolas Ardanaz (3-22-25)
Brendan Pigeon (4-14-18)
Riding a five-game point streak into Tuesday night’s matchup, Warriors defender Nicolas Ardanaz has provided an offensive boost from the blue line. The University of New Hampshire commit has scored two goals while adding four assists for six points over that five-game stretch as well as earning points in 11 of his last 13 games. The Langley, BC native ranks 4th in the BCHL amongst rookie defensemen with 25 points while placing 2nd in assists among rookie blue liners with 22 on the season.
Carter Wilkie has been a big part of the Warriors offensive attack since being acquired from the Chilliwack Chiefs in late November, collecting a point in 8 of his 13 games in West Kelowna. The Calgary, Alberta native has earned a point in five of his last six games, scoring five goals and adding three assists for eight points during that stretch, including his first career four-point game in a two-goal, two-assist effort against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on January 12th.
The Warriors are in the midst of a six-game home stand, which comes to a close on Friday night with the Vernon Vipers in town. West Kelowna has three of the first four games of the home stand, outscoring their opposition by a 17-12 margin over that time with 6 of their 11 wins on the season taking place at Royal LePage Place. The Warriors have played the third-most home games this season amongst BCHL competition with 24 as 9 of their last 14 games will be played on the road.
The Vees and Warriors will drop the puck on the fourth of their six-game season series tonight at Royal LePage Place at 7:00 PM. The game will be broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
