PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (19-5-1-0) conclude their weekend on home ice, looking to make it back-to-back wins against the Wenatchee Wild (11-10-1-1) on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. WENATCHEE
Friday, October 5th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (5-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 8th @ Town Toyota Center (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, November 9th @ Town Toyota Center (5-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, November 16th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
Wednesday, December 4th @ Town Toyota Center (6:00 PM)
Friday, February 21st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 22nd @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
The Vees come into Saturday night’s matchup after earning a big 6-3 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vees got goals from six different sources as Danny Weight, David Silye, Evan McIntyre, Jay O’Brien, Steve Holtz and Lukas Sillinger each tallied in the game. Yaniv Perets turned aside 20 of the 23 shots he faced in the Vees goal for his 11th victory of the season.
Penticton has won the first three of their seven-game season series against Wenatchee, including a 5-3 victory in the team’s last meeting one week ago. Liam Malmquist, Danny Weight and Jackson Niedermayer scored in the opening two periods before Jay O’Brien tallied the game winning marker on the power play in the 3rd period with David Silye adding an empty net goal as insurance. Yaniv Perets stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced on the night for the victory in between the pipes.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (15-24-39)
Danny Weight (12-19-31)
Lukas Sillinger (11-19-30)
David Silye (8-19-27)
Liam Malmquist (7-12-19)
Friday night was quite the outing for a pair of Vees forwards, who combined for a total of nine points between the two of them. Lukas Sillinger had the biggest performance of any Vee, tallying five points with a goal and four assists in the victory. The Regina, Saskatchewan native has registered a point in six of his last seven contests, scoring 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in that span and earned his seventh multi-point game of the season and the fourth to consist of three or more points.
The other Vees forward who had a big night was Jay O’Brien as the 19th overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers tallied a goal and three assists for a four-point night. The Boston University commit leapfrogged his way into 2nd in BCHL scoring and now sits at 39 points on the season and has points in 9 of his last 10 games. The Hingham, Massachusetts native registered his 11th multi-point game of the season on Friday night with the occasion also marking the 4th four-point outing O’Brien has produced this season.
Penticton got scoring from all avenues of their offensive attack on Friday night, including the blue line, which has seen first-year Vees defender Steve Holtz contribute in abundance over the last ten games. The University of Michigan commit enters Saturday night’s contest riding a five-game point streak, amassing two goals and three assists for five points in that span. In addition to the five consecutive games with a point, the White Lake, Michigan native has also collected a point in eight of his last nine games.
The Wenatchee Wild enter Saturday night’s game looking to get back into the win column after falling to the Vees by a 5-3 score last Saturday night at the Town Toyota Center. Nick Cafarelli, Quinn Emerson and Brian Adams each scored in the 2nd period for the Wild but just fell short. Noah Altman stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced in his 6th loss of the season.
Wild Leading Scorers:
Nick Cafarelli (11-12-23)
Tyler Young (4-18-22)
Brett Chorske (7-12-19)
Brian Adams (11-7-18)
Matt Dorsey (3-11-14)
Rookie forward Nick Cafarelli has been one of the biggest sources of offence for the Wild this season, leading Wenatchee in points with 23 on the season. The University of New Hampshire commit is tied with Brian Adams for the team lead with 11 goals while adding 12 assists this campaign. The Middleton, Massachusetts native has tallied points in three of his last four games, scoring two goals and five assists for seven points over that span.
Seven multi-point games this season has forward Tyler Young trailing just Cafarelli for the team lead in points. The Providence College commit leads the Wild in assists with 18 on the season while having plenty of success over his last handful of games, scoring a goal and registering six assists for seven points in his last four games, three of which he has earned at least a point in.
The Wild begin a two-game weekend swing which will end tomorrow afternoon in Salmon Arm with Wenatchee having played the second-least games away from home. The Wild hold a 4-4-1-0 record away from the Town Toyota Center over the course of the season, scoring 26 goals while surrendering 29 against during their 9 games on the road.
The Vees and Wild will play the fourth of their seven-game season series tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with tickets available at the SOEC Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
