PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used a pair of Fin Williams markers and the first BC Hockey League goal from Josh Niedermayer to skate past the Trail Smoke Eaters by a 4-1 score on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The game started in a similar fashion as Wednesday night’s defensive battle for the Vees as both teams had a timid start with the shots reading 5-1 in favour of Trail in the opening 10 minutes of the contest as Kaeden Lane turned aside a quick drop shot from Brady Hunter from the top of the left face-off circle.
Penticton would settle into the game and open the scoring with the first BC Hockey League goal from Josh Niedermayer to push the Vees ahead by a 1-0 score. Liam Malmquist spotted Niedermayer coming down the left wing and sent a pass across the ice to find the stick of the open defenseman as he buried a shot over the blocker shoulder of Smoke Eaters goaltender Logan Terness to break the ice at the 14:37 mark of the opening period.
The Vees finished the period with a 10-6 edge in the shots on goal category to close out the frame as Penticton headed to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead as Kaeden Lane turned aside each of the 6 shots he faced in the opening frame while Logan Terness stopped 9 of the 10 shots thrown to his net.
The Smoke Eaters began the 2nd period with 30 seconds remaining on a power play to conclude the opening period and just after that had expired, Brady Hunter got his team on level terms. He made his way into the slot and had his shot glance off the stick of a Vees defender and under the glove of Lane just 35 seconds into the middle stanza to tie the game at 1-1.
Both teams pressed for the go-ahead marker, including a shot that rang off the glove side post from Ben Wozney on the lone Vees power play of the night, before a tic-tac-toe passing effort from the Devlin O’Brien, Luc Wilson and Fin Williams pushed the home side ahead by a goal once again.
Frank Djurasevic made a terrific play to hold the puck onside at the right point as he kept the puck inside the blue line before he chipped to the right half boards as O’Brien sent a pass across the ice to Wilson who played a pass from the left face-off circle to the middle of the ice as Williams came crashing in to deposit his 3rd goal of the season at the 9:13 mark of the middle frame to give the Vees a 2-1 advantage just under halfway through the period.
The Vees concluded the period with the edge in play, outshooting Trail by a 10-5 margin in the middle stanza as Penticton headed into the final period of play with a one-goal lead.
Both teams once again had their chances in the 3rd period, with Lane standing tall in the Vees net, guarding against a flurry of chances through the middle part of the period while Terness continued to shut the door on the Vees attack until he headed to the bench for the extra attacker with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Tyler Ho made a strong play to get around every Smoke Eaters player in the neutral zone as he made his way into the offensive end and found the back of the empty net for his 5th goal of the season and pushed the Vees ahead by a 3-1 margin at the 18:49 mark of the final period.
O’Brien put a shot to the net with 47 seconds remaining in the game, collecting the puck at the top of the right face-off circle and sneaking a shot through traffic that was redirected by Williams for his second goal of the game past Terness for a 4-1 lead late in the game.
Kaeden Lane picked up his 8th win in goal for the Vees, stopping 17 of the 18 shots thrown his way in the victory while Logan Terness turned aside 29 of the 32 shots he faced in the game in his 3rd loss of the campaign.
FINAL SCORE: 4-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 33-18 Vees
VEES PP: 0/1
VEES PK: 1/1
3 STARS:
1) Fin Williams (1-1-2)
2) Josh Niedermayer (1-0-1)
3) Devlin O’Brien (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Frank Djurasevic (0-0-0)
The Vees (10-1-0-1) return to action with the second half of a back-to-back as they face-off against Cranbrook Bucks (2-9-0-0) on Saturday night at the SOEC. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with the game broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as on HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 5:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
