PHOTO: Lisa Mazurek/Lisa Mazurek Photography
The Penticton Vees (32-11-1-1) make their final trip of the season to the North Okanagan in the sixth of a seven-game season series to face-off against the Vernon Vipers (23-17-1-1) on Wednesday night at Kal Tire Place.
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 (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 1st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
The Vees will look for their 33rd win of the season as they are coming off of a 5-1 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Liam Malmquist, Tristan Amonte, Jackson Niedermayer, Tyler Ho and Danny Weight each tallied singles in the win while Carl Stankowski turned aside 17 of the 18 shots he faced in his 9th victory of the season in between the pipes.
Penticton has won three of the five meetings against Vernon, including a New Year’s Day win at Kal Tire Place by a 3-1 score to begin 2020. Tristan Amonte opened the scoring in the game while Liam Malmquist and Evan McIntyre added single markers in the victory with Carl Stankowski making 20 saves on 21 shots for the victory in net.
Vees Leading Scorers:
David Silye (17-30-47)
Lukas Sillinger (16-31-47)
Jay O’Brien (15-32-47)
Danny Weight (19-26-45)
Jackson Niedermayer (17-17-34)
With a 2nd period goal on Saturday night, forward Jackson Niedermayer extended his point streak to five games while also collecting at least a point in eight of his last nine games. The Arizona State University commit has scored 6 goals while tallying 3 assists for 9 points during his five-game point streak and sits in a tie for second on the team in goals. The Penticton, BC native sits in a tie for 16th in BCHL goal scoring with his 17 tallies.
Goals in three straight games has Vees forward Liam Malmquist on a three-game point streak and goes back to Vernon after a strong game on New Year’s Day. The Wisconsin University commit has registered three goals and an assist for four points during a stretch of three consecutive games with a point. The Edina, Minnesota product tallied a goal and an assist in the Vees last meeting with the Vipers on January 1st while also collecting goals in five of his last seven contests, dating back to December 21st.
The Vees penalty kill has been a helping hand in victories over the last few games, including going 4-for-4 in Saturday night’s triumph over the Smoke Eaters. Penticton’s PK has not allowed a power play goal against in each of their last three games, going 9-for-9 over the course of the three game with the Vees penalty kill currently sits in 7th in the BCHL at 82.4%.
The Vernon Vipers come into Wednesday night’s game having won each of their last three contests, including a 5-3 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at the Shaw Centre on Sunday afternoon. Dawson Holt, Max Bulawka, JoJo Tanaka-Campbell, Landon Fuller and Christian Fulton each tallied markers in the win while Reilly Herbst turned aside 22 of the 25 shots he faced in his 16th victory of the season in the crease.
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)
Vipers forward Matt Kowalski comes into the game as the reigning BC Hockey League Player of the Week with scoring 4 goals and adding 4 assists for 8 points in 3 games. The Vernon, BC native tallied his second five-point game of the season on Saturday night in a Vipers 7-3 victory over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, including his second hat-trick of the year. Kowalski comes into the game in a tie for 3rd place in the BCHL’s goal totals with 23.
Another piece of the offensive attack for the Vipers comes in the form of forward Dawson Holt, who owns a four-game point streak coming into the game as well as points in six if his last seven games. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has scored 3 goals and added 4 assists for 7 points during those 4 games, including multi-point affairs in three of those four games.
There is another point streak to be carried into the game on Wednesday night as defender Landon Fuller brings a four-game point streak into the game. The Williams Lake, BC native has scored 4 goals and added 5 assists for 9 points over his last 4 contests with each of those games accounting for multi-point efforts. Fuller has surpassed his career totals in points in each of his last four seasons combined in the league with his 8 goals and 17 points in 39 games played this season.
The Vees and Vipers play the sixth of their seven-game season series tonight at Kal Tire Place with a 7:00 PM puck drop. 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.
