The Penticton Vees and Langley Rivermen meet for the second time in three days but tonight the venue changes. After a 3-1 win Wednesday against the Riv,’ the Vees head down to the Lower Mainland to face Langley at their new home, George Preston Arena AKA “The Lodge.”
Penticton is looking for their ninth straight win and second straight home-and-home sweep, after they beat Merritt twice last weekend. The Rivermen have dropped six of their last seven and have picked up just one point since September 24th, as they’ve been hit with a rash of injuries.
Grant Cruikshank, Taylor Ward and Jonny Tychonick scored in Wednesday’s win and Mat Robson picked up his eighth win, stopping 21 of 22 shots. Bo Didur was terrific in the loss for Langley, as he turned aside 37 of 40 shots and was named the game’s second star.
As mentioned, Penticton has won eight straight which is a BCHL-best so far this season and they’ve won their last four road games; so far they’ve won six of their first seven on the road. Langley has dropped two of their last three home games, including last Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Trail.
A pair of Vees are a wielding a hot stick right now in Ty Amonte and Nicholas Jones. Jones has points in nine straight games and Amonte has an eight-game point streak heading into tonight’s game. The Vees’ Captain has 11 points during his streak and Amonte has nine. Amonte (15) and Jones (12) are one, two in team scoring with Grant Cruikshank (11) rounding out the top three.
Owen Sillinger, Taylor Ward and Mitch Meek all have three points in two games against the Riv’ this season which is tied for a team-best; Sillinger and Ward each have three goals.
Mat Robson will likely get the start in goal for Penticton and owns a league-best goals-against average (1.48) and save percentage (.943). Langley will likely counter with Didur and he’s 3-5-0-1 on the year with a 3.66 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage.
Penticton will ice a line-up similar to that as Wednesday with one change coming up front. Massimo Rizzo, who made his Vees debut Wednesday, won’t play tonight and it’s unclear if the Vees will plug in a twelfth forward. Jacob Kamps has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and he’s a game-time decision.
Langley has been hit with a rash of injuries in the first seven weeks of the season, as they were missing five regulars from their line-up Wednesday. They had one piece of good news and that was the return of their Captain Cooper Leitch, who was recently out with an injury himself.
There’s a new way for fans to listen to Vees games on online or on their mobile device. Fans can go to iheartradio’s website to stream the broadcast, or the can download the iheartradio Canada app for FREE on their smartphone or tablet. The game is also available on the BCHL’s pay-per-view webcast at www.hockeytv.com (formerly known as Fasthockey).
After tonight, Penticton will turn around and head back home as they have a game Saturday at the SOEC against the Nanaimo Clippers; face-off is 6 pm. Fans can get their tickets at the Valley First box office (at the SOEC), or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com
