PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (7-0-0-0) look to extend their season-opening win streak to eight games and conclude their weekend home-and-home set against the West Kelowna Warriors (1-6-2-0) on Saturday 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 (6:00 PM)
Friday, December 6th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 7th @ Royal LePage Place (6:00 PM)
Tuesday, January 21st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Sunday, February 9th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2:00 PM)
The Vees come into Saturday night’s contest after opening their home schedule at the South Okanagan Events Centre with a 3-0 victory over the Warriors on Friday night in the first leg of the home-and-home set. Vincent Nardone, Jackson Niedermayer and Colton Kalezic scored in the game for the Vees while Yaniv Perets turned aside all of the 21 shots he faced in his 4th win of the season and second consecutive shutout posted.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Danny Weight (6-5-11)
Jay O’Brien (4-5-9)
Liam Malmquist (2-7-9)
David Silye (2-6-8)
Tristan Amonte (5-2-7)
The Vees got terrific goaltending from Yaniv Perets on Friday night as the Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec native posted his second consecutive shutout in Penticton’s 3-0 win. The Quinnipiac University commit sits tied for 2nd in the BCHL in wins with 4 and leads the league in goals against average at 1.00 and save percentage at .957. Perets also holds the league lead in shutouts thus far with 2 and has stopped each of the last 39 shots thrown his way.
With a pair of assists on Friday night, Vees forward Liam Malmquist has placed himself in a tie for the league lead in points by a rookie this season. The Edina, Minnesota native has compiled 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points on the year, tied with Wenatchee’s Nick Cafarelli for the BCHL’s top scoring rookie. The University of Wisconsin commit has points in three of his last four contests, registering four assists over that span.
Penticton has gotten contributions from everywhere in the offence to begin the season with 20 of the 22 skaters on the roster holding at least a point. The Vees have gotten a goal from 17 of the 22 rostered players this season, including five of those coming from defencemen. The Vees have 25 total points accumulated from their back end with 5 goals and 20 assists adding to their league leading total of 35 goals scored in 7 games.
The West Kelowna Warriors enter Saturday night’s game looking to avenge the 3-0 loss at the hands of the Vees a night prior in Penticton and snap a current five-game winless stretch. Brock Baier was in between the pipes for the Warriors on Friday night, stopping 27 of the 30 shots he faced in his 6th loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Lucas Cullen (3-7-10)
Levi Stauber (6-2-8)
Brandon Dent (4-4-8)
Rob Christy (1-3-4)
Brendan Pigeon (0-4-4)
Friday marked the first time the Warriors have been shutout this season and only having been held off the scoreboard once last season. West Kelowna lost a 1-0 game to the Vernon Vipers on January 18th before dropping a 3-0 decision in Penticton last night, a span of 22 games between shutouts.
Heading back home to Royal LePage Place, the Warriors are looking for their first win on home ice this season, coming into the game with a 0-3-2-0 record at RLP. The Warriors are just one of two teams to have not won at home this season with the other being the Victoria Grizzlies who have their home opener at The Q Centre tonight.
The Vees and Warriors drop the puck at 6:00 PM from Royal LePage Place with the game being broadcasted on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com with the broadcast beginning at 5:40 PM with the pre-game show with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
The BCHL Showcase Festival presented by Bauer is coming to Penticton on October 4th and 5th. 8 games with 9 different teams will take place at the SOEC with game times set for 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM and two Vees games at 7:00 PM. Tickets are on sale now at the SOEC Box Office as well as valleyfirsttix.com and are on sale for as low as $10 a day for a day pass to all non-Vees games.
