PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (37-11-1-1) begin the final month of the regular season on Saturday night, playing in their first game in eight days as they host the Vernon Vipers (26-20-2-1) at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. VERNON
Friday, October 4th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (1-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 18th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2-1 Vipers/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 13th @ Kal Tire Place (2-0 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 14th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, January 1st @ Kal Tire Place (3-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, January 15th @ Kal Tire Place (2-1 Vees/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 1st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
The Vees will try to make it seven wins in a row after an eight-day layoff, which last saw them in action last Friday night in a 6-2 victory over the Merritt Centennials at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Danny Weight tallied a pair of goals in the game while Conner Hutchison, Drew Elser, Jay O’Brien and Darwin Lakoduk each scored singles in the win. Carl Stankowski turned aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced in his 11th victory of the season between the pipes.
Penticton has won each of the last three games against Vernon in the teams’ season series, and four of six games overall, including a 2-1 overtime victory in mid-January at Kal Tire Place. David Silye tied the game in the 3rd period before Nico Somerville found the back of the net in overtime to push the Vees to the road victory. Yaniv Perets stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced for the win in extra time in the Vees crease.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (20-35-55)
David Silye (19-34-53)
Lukas Sillinger (16-35-51)
Danny Weight (22-27-49)
Jackson Niedermayer (18-19-37)
With five points over the course of a two-game week, Vees forward Jay O’Brien was named the BC Hockey League’s Player of the Week. The 19th overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers posted a pair of goals in the Vees 5-2 win over the West Kelowna Warriors before finishing off the week with a goal and two helpers for three points in a 6-2 win over the Centennials. The Boston University commit comes into Saturday night’s action leading the Vees in points with 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points in his 38 games played this season and is tied for the league lead in game winning markers with 7.
It was a good January for Vees forward Jackson Niedermayer, who finished the opening month of the year with 12 points in his 9 games played. The Arizona State University commit posted 7 goals and 5 assists in the month while coming into Saturday night with points in seven of his last eight contests. The Penticton, BC native ranks fourth on the team in goal scoring with 18 tallies while sitting fifth amongst all point getters on the Vees with his 35 points.
Niedermayer and company had an extremely strong month of January, as a team, recording a 10-1 record in 11 games, including riding a current six-game win streak. Penticton outscored their opposition by a 51-20 margin over the course of the month while holding teams to one-goal or less in 6 of those contests. Penticton also won each of their six games on home ice in January, boasting a 15-4-1-1 record at the South Okanagan Events Centre with all eight of their February games being played at home.
The Vernon Vipers come into Saturday night’s matchup after a pair of wins during the week, including a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday night at Kal Tire Place. Connor Marritt scored to tie the game before Connor Sleeth tallied the winning marker with 17 seconds remaining in the game. Keegan Karki turned aside 18 of the 19 shots he faced in his 2nd win of the season.
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Matt Kowalski (23-21-44)
Dawson Holt (17-17-34)
Connor Marritt (12-22-34)
JoJo Tanaka-Campbell (4-18-22)
Cameron MacDonald (13-7-20)
With the win on Friday night, Vernon finished up the month of January with a 6-5-0-1 record, including wins in each of their last two games. The Vipers outscored their opposition by a 40-39 margin in 12 games during the year’s opening month while playing just 3 of those games away from home.
Scoring with 17 seconds remaining in the game, Vipers forward Connor Sleeth tallied his 5th goal of the season and helped Vernon to their 26th win of the season. The Markham, Ontario native has posted two goals and two assists for four points over his last five games, including a shorthanded goal on January 24th against the West Kelowna Warriors.
Tonight will mark the finale in the seven-game season set between the Vees and Vipers, with each of the first six games being tightly contested. Penticton has won four of the six games thus far with the series featuring just 18 goals overall between the two teams. The Vipers have scored no more than two goals against the Vees this season.
The Vees and the Vipers play their seventh and final game to conclude their season series tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with tickets available for purchase at the Valley First Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
The game is also the annual Feed The Valley Night, presented by Valley First. Fans are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to the game and be entered to WIN a Vees autographed jersey. OR, purchase a raffle ticket at the game for a chance to win two (2) tickets to Brad Paisley coming to the SOEC on Friday, March 6. All donations and proceeds go to supporting Penticton Salvation Army Food Bank.
