PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (13-1-0-1) look for their sixth consecutive victory as they face-off against the Trail Smoke Eaters (8-8-0-0) on Sunday evening from the South Okanagan Events Centre
2021 REGULAR SEASON VS. TRAIL
Friday, April 2nd @ Trail (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Thursday, April 8th @ Trail (6-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, April 11th vs. Trail (6-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, April 14th vs. Trail (3-2 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, April 17th @ Trail (3-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, April 23rd vs. Trail (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Monday, April 26th @ Trail (5-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Thursday, April 29th @ Trail (7-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, May 2nd vs. Trail (4:00 PM)
Saturday, May 8th vs. Trail (6:00 PM)
The Vees enter the game on Sunday evening in search of their sixth straight victory after earning a 5-1 win on Friday night against the Cranbrook Bucks at the SOEC. Five different goal scorers came together for Penticton in the win with Ryan Upson, Tristan Amonte, Jacob Quillan, Ben Wozney and Luc Wilson all finding the back of the net. Kaeden Lane was once again terrific in the Vees net, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced in his 12th win of the season.
Penticton and Trail will meet for the 9th time of 10 meetings this season with the Vees coming away victorious in seven of the eight matchups thus far, including a 7-2 triumph in the team’s last meeting. Devlin O’Brien registered his first career BC Hockey League hat-trick while Luc Wilson, Grayson Arnott, Jacob Quillan and Fin Williams added singles in the win. Kaeden Lane turned aside 28 of the 30 shots thrown his way for the win in between the pipes in the Vees crease.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Luc Wilson (14-10-24)
Jacob Quillan (9-10-19)
Liam Malmquist (6-12-18)
Fin Williams (5-13-18)
Ryan Upson (6-11-17)
Goals in three straight games has Vees forward and leading scorer Luc Wilson at the top of the BCHL in goals with 14 on the season. The University of Minnesota State Mankato commit sits in a tie for 3rd in points in the league with 24 while overtaking Victoria’s Ellis Rickwood for top spot in the league in goal scoring. The Duncan, BC native also hit a major milestone on Friday night with his 3rd period goal as that marked his 100th career point in the BCHL while Wilson has collected multi-point games in each of his last three outings.
Another Vee who has found plenty of success as of late has been forward Jacob Quillan, who comes into Sunday’s game riding a four-game point streak with three of those games being multi-point affairs. The Quinnipiac University commit has three goals and four assists for seven points in that span, including goals in back-to-back games. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native ranks 4th in scoring amongst rookies with his 19 points while his 9 goals have him sitting tied for 2nd in that department.
Goaltender Kaeden Lane continues to pile up wins and keep his terrific start to the season going as he has won each of his last seven starts. The Burnaby, BC native leads the league with 12 wins in between the pipes while posting a 1.23 goals against average and a .947 save percentage, which both lead the league in their respected categories. Lane also has four shutouts, which is tops in BCHL and just three off the league record of seven in a season, while playing in 38 less regular season games.
The Trail Smoke Eaters come into Sunday evening looking for back-to-back wins after a tight-checking victory over the Bucks by a 2-1 score on Saturday night at the SOEC. Late 2nd period goals from Coalson Wolford and Carson Golder helped Trail to the win while Logan Terness made 37 saves on 38 shots for his 6th win of the season, narrowly missing back-to-back shutouts by 0.04 seconds.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Kalen Szeto (5-7-12)
Quinn Disher (6-5-11)
Noah Wakeford (5-6-11)
Coalson Wolford (4-7-11)
Ryan Helliwell (3-8-11)
Scoring twice in the last meeting between these two teams, Smoke Eaters forward Kalen Szeto has found a hot stretch of play over the last few games, registering four points in his last three games, including a pair of multi-point efforts. The Yake University commit has three goals and an assist for four points over his trio of games and has taken over his team’s scoring lead. The two-goal effort against the Vees on Thursday night was the fourth multi-point effort of the season for the former Langley Rivermen forward.
The Vees and Smoke Eaters drop the puck on the ninth of ten meetings between the two sides on Sunday evening at the SOEC. Puck drop is slated for 4:00 PM with the game available to listen on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as watch on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com and Shaw Spotlight beginning with the pre-game show at 3:40.
