PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (15-1-0-1) will look for their seventh win in a row as they face-off against the Cranbrook Bucks (2-13-0-1) on Monday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
2021 REGULAR SEASON VS. CRANBROOK
Saturday, April 3rd vs. Cranbrook (6-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, April 9th @ Cranbrook (5-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Monday, April 12th @ Cranbrook (4-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Thursday, April 15th @ Cranbrook (7-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, April 18th vs. Cranbrook (5-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, April 21st @ Cranbrook (1-0 Bucks) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, April 24th vs. Cranbrook (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, April 30th vs. Cranbrook (5-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Monday, May 3rd @ Cranbrook (7:00 PM)
Sunday, May 9th vs. Cranbrook (4:00 PM)
The Vees will look for their seventh win in a row after a 3-1 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Sunday evening. Devlin O’Brien opened the scoring in the 1st period while Ben Wozney collected the eventual game winning goal in the 2nd frame before Jacob Quillan found an empty net in the 3rd period to conclude the scoring. Kaeden Lane turned aside 23 of the 24 shots he faced in his 13th win of the season.
Penticton and Cranbrook play for the ninth of ten times tonight with the Vees collecting wins in seven of the eight meetings thus far, including a 5-1 victory over the Bucks in the teams’ last clash on Saturday night. Ryan Upson, Tristan Amonte, Jacob Quillan, Ben Wozney and Luc Wilson each found the back of the net with Kaeden Lane stopping 25 of the 26 shots thrown his way for the victory in net.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Luc Wilson (14-10-24)
Jacob Quillan (10-10-20)
Liam Malmquist (6-14-20)
Fin Williams (5-13-18)
Ryan Upson (6-11-17)
The empty net tally for Jacob Quillan on Sunday gave him goals in three straight games and four goals in his last five contests. The Quinnipiac University commit also saw his point streak expand to five games, collecting four goals and four assists for eight points in that span and, along with Luc Wilson, are the lone players on the team with double digit goals and assists.
Defender Ben Wozney scored his second game winning goal of the season on Sunday while also registering goals in back-to-back games. The Bowling Green University commit is a veteran of 103 BC Hockey League games and in his first season in Penticton, leading the Vees defense with 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points on the back end.
Special teams has been a big part of the Vees winning ways over the course of the season, especially when it comes to the penalty kill, which ranks 1st in the league at 95.8%. The Vees have also killed off three five minute majors over the course of their 16-game schedule and have killed off each of their last seven penalties, spanning the last four games.
The Cranbrook Bucks come into Monday night’s action after an off day following a 2-1 defeat to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday night at the SOEC. Hayden Gelbard scored with 0.04 seconds remaining in the game to end the shutout bid of Logan Terness and the Smoke Eaters. Nathan Airey was superb in goal for Cranbrook, turning aside 45 of the 47 shots he faced in his 9th loss of the season.
Bucks Leading Scorers:
Zeth Kindrachuk (3-6-9)
Walker Gelbard (2-7-9)
Tyson Dyck (3-2-5)
Nik Sombrowski (3-2-5)
Nathan Fox (2-3-5)
Nathan Airey made his best start in the BCHL on Saturday night where he made 43 saves on 45 shots but is still searching for his first win in the league, dropping to 0-9 on the campaign. The Abbotsford, BC native has had a heavy work load in his 10 games of play this season, facing 30 or more shots six times and going up against 40 or more shots in three of his games. Over his last three starts, all against the Smoke Eaters, Airey has posted a .936 save percentage while allowing just 7 goals on 111 shots in the process.
The Vees and Bucks will meet for the ninth of ten times this season on Monday night from the SOEC. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available on EZ Rock AM 800 beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM as well as BCHLTV.ca and Shaw Spotlight.
