PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees score four unanswered 3rd period goals to help them to a 2-0 series lead in a 4-1 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors in Game #2 of their best-of-seven Interior Division Quarter Final at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Friday night.
The Vees started the game with a physical edge, throwing checks in the opening minutes including a big hit from Lukas Sillinger as he knocked down Nicolas Ardanaz in the right-wing corner in the game’s opening minute.
The flow in the game started to pick up, going large stretches of time without a whistle and seeing a chance for West Kelowna go by the wayside as Brendan Pigeon cut down the right-wing to the net before Vees goaltender Yaniv Perets made a right pad save with the puck laying loose in the slot as Ardanaz was unable to collect and beat the Vees goaltender, keeping the game at 0-0.
Carter Wilkie was robbed of a chance from the left face-off circle later in the period, being fed from the right wing on a pass from John Evans with Perets sliding from his left to his right to deny the chance before the Warriors would be first to find the scoresheet at the 14:18 mark, coming courtesy of a power play.
Tyler Cristall got a loose puck behind the Vees goal on a save from Perets and centered from below the goal line as the puck went off the left pad of the Vees goaltender and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in favour of West Kelowna.
The Vees show strong pressure in the period, throwing 9 shots on the Warriors goal with netminder Johnny Derrick turning aside each shot he faced while Perets stopped 9 of the 10 shots put to his net.
Penticton outshot West Kelowna by a 14-6 margin over the course of the 2nd period, including some very good looks in the middle stanza, but Derrick and the Warriors kept the game in their favour.
Off a face-off, Jack Barnes took a shot from the right face-off circle with Derrick making a save while the rebound came to the slot as Darwin Lakoduk steered the puck to the net as Derrick slid to his right and kept the puck out of the goal against his right pad with Barnes digging at the post.
Drew Elser stepped out in front of the net with a good opportunity as the period was in its final stages, collecting a loose puck behind the net and stepping out to the glove side of Derrick before putting a shot to the glove side of the Warriors net as Derrick made the save to keep the 1-0 West Kelowna advantage intact.
Derrick continued to stand tall for the Warriors, turning aside each of the 14 shots he faced in the 2nd period and all 23 shots thrown his way through 40 minutes while Perets stopped all 6 of his faced attempts in the middle frame and 15 of the 16 he saw through two periods of action.
Momentum went to the Vees to begin the 3rd period, forcing pucks to the net on a power play to open the frame and after a disallowed goal against Jackson Niedermayer stood to keep the game 1-0, Danny Weight quickly tied the game for good at the 1:58 mark of the final frame.
Elser started the play with a strong drive down the right wing, forcing a defender wide before centering a pass on his backhand as he spotted Weight on the backdoor, who tapped in the pass on the blocker side of Derrick for his 2nd goal of the playoffs and evened the score at 1-1.
Jay O’Brien gave the Vees their first, and last, lead of the hockey game at the 6:20 mark of the 3rd period, showing off terrific patience. O’Brien made his way to the slot and waiting for traffic to form in front of the net before putting a shot past the blocker side of Derrick for his 2nd goal of the playoffs and a 2-1 Vees advantage.
A pair of big saves by Yaniv Perets kept the Vees ahead, turning aside a partial break from Elan Bar-Lev-Wise down the right side, making a glove stop before denying the rebound with his left pad to keep the game in Penticton’s favour.
O’Brien collected his second goal of the period, pushing the Vees lead to 3-1 at the 10:27 mark after picking up a rebound on a Steve Holtz shot. O’Brien moved around a fallen defender and got past the glove side of Derrick, tucking the puck inside the right post for his 3rd goal of the postseason and a 3-1 Vees lead.
33 seconds later, Liam Malmquist extended the Vees advantage to 4-1 at the 11:00 mark with his second goal of the playoffs. Malmquist gathered the puck on the glove side on a rebound and went behind the goal, wrapping the puck past the blocker side of Derrick to make it a 4-1 Vees lead, which held up as the final score.
Yaniv Perets stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced for the second straight night, posting his 2nd win of the playoffs while Johnny Derrick stopped 30 of the 34 shots he faced in his 2nd loss of the playoffs.
FINAL SCORE: 4-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 34-23 Vees
VEES PP: 0/1
VEES PK: 1/2
3 STARS:
1) Jay O’Brien (2-0-2)
2) Liam Malmquist (1-1-2)
3) Danny Weight (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Steve Holtz (0-1-1)
Attendance: 3,118
The series will shift to Royal LePage Place on Sunday afternoon for Game #3 of the best-of-seven Interior Division Quarter Final between the Vees and Warriors with the series at 2-0 in favour of Penticton. Puck drop is slated for a 3:00 PM matinee with the game being broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 2:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
