PHOTO: Damon James/BCHL
SURREY, B.C. – The Penticton Vees got a late 3rd period marker from Tyler Ho to help them to their fourth straight victory in a 5-3 win over the Surrey Eagles on Friday night at the South Surrey Arena.
The Eagles were the team that came out with jump in the opening frame and got the lead at the 7:03 mark with a tally from the right side. Wyatt Schlaht worked his way down the right wing before sending a shot on from the right face-off circle and through the glove side of Vees netminder Carl Stankowski to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Surrey quickly doubled their lead courtesy of a power play and jumped ahead by a 2-0 score after a goal-mouth scramble in front of the net. Hudson Schandor sent a puck to the front of the goal that was joisted for before Holden Katzalay poked in the loose puck for the tally on the man advantage and a two-goal lead for the Eagles.
The media timeout followed that and seemed to favour the Vees as they came out with good energy and threw the final 10 shots on goal of the period and cut the deficit to a goal with the red-hot power play getting Penticton on the scoreboard.
Jackson Niedermayer took a David Silye pass in the right-wing corner and sent a pass to the front of the net where Lukas Sillinger was camped out, having his first shot stopped by the right pad of Eagles goaltender Cal Schell but he knocked in the rebound for his 6th goal of the season and a 2-1 game at the 17:35 mark of the opening period.
The Vees came out with the same jump at the beginning of the 2nd period and evened the score at the 2:17 mark as Tristan Amonte tied the game. After Penticton killed off a penalty, Amonte came out of the penalty box and raced down the right side, snapping a shot through the legs of Schell from the right face-off circle for his 7th marker of the season and a 2-2 score.
Just 31 seconds later, the Vees took their first lead of the hockey game as Liam Malmquist buried his second goal in as many games. The puck sat inside the offensive zone at the high slot before Danny Weight picked it up and sent a pass down low to the edge of the crease with Malmquist whacking it home on the glove side for his 5th goal of the season and a 3-2 Vees lead at the 2:48 mark.
The Eagles had a response as the period drew later and it came in the way of Katzalay’s second goal of the contest. The Surrey forward got the puck in front of the net after a shot from the point was knocked down in the slot and beat Stankowski on the blocker side to even the score at 3-3 at the 16:33 mark of the middle stanza.
Both teams had good chances in the final period to find the back of the net with each netminder standing tall, including a big breakaway save that Stankowski on Carter King with a glove arm save before Penticton took the lead again late in the 3rd period.
Tyler Ho intercepted a Surrey turnover on the glove side at the bottom of the face-off circle before making a move to his backhand and lifting the puck over the blocker of Schell from the top of the crease for his 2nd goal of the season and a 4-3 Vees advantage with 1:52 remaining in the game.
Surrey emptied the net for a 6-on-5 attack before Jay O’Brien found the back of the net as he took a slash and worked down the right side before sliding his 10th goal of the season into the empty cage to complete a 5-3 come-from-behind victory.
Carl Stankowski turned aside 32 of the 35 shots he faced in his 2nd win of the season while Cal Schell stopped 38 of the 42 shots thrown his way in his 9th defeat of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 5-3 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 43-35 Vees
VEES PP: 1/4
VEES PK: 1/2
3 STARS:
1) Tristan Amonte (1-0-1)
2) Holden Katzalay (2-1-3)
3) Danny Weight (0-2-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Cal Schell (38 saves on 42 shots)
Attendance: 431
The Vees (15-3-1-0) conclude their two-game set away from home with a matchup against the Victoria Grizzlies (7-14-0-0) in the Provincial Capital. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM from The Q Centre with the game being broadcasted 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.
