PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees earned their fifth straight victory on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre as Kaeden Lane made 25 saves while Tristan Amonte earned a goal and an assist in a 5-1 victory over the Cranbrook Bucks.
The Vees were first on the scoresheet at the 12:48 mark as Ryan Upson tallied his 6th goal of the season to get the home side a 1-0 lead. Upson took a Fin Williams pass on the right wing and cut to the right face-off circle as he sent a shot off of the body of a Bucks defender and over the glove side of Cranbrook netminder Jay Thomson for a 1-0 lead just over halfway through the 1st period.
Noah Leibl evened the score just moments later on a puck that was blocked twice before finding his stick in the slot. A Nick Dobson attempt was blocked by the Vees as it came free to Leibl at the top of the slot, who zipped a shot past the blocker side of Vees netminder Kaeden Lane for a 1-1 score, which is how the period ended with not many quality scoring chances for either side.
Breaking a scoreless stretch dating back to April 3rd, Tristan Amonte pushed the Vees ahead just over halfway into the 2nd period. Amonte flew down the right wing and wristed a shot past the blocker side of Thomson for his 3rd goal of the season at the 10:22 mark of the middle stanza to thrust the Vees ahead once more by a 2-1 score.
That score remained into the 3rd period with the help of Lane, who was outstanding on the night and made a potential save of the year, denying Leibl of his second goal of the game in the middle frame. A shot was put to the goal from the high slot as Lane made the stop before the rebound popped free on the glove side and Leibl backhanded a shot on goal only to see Lane reach back with his glove hand and deny the opportunity to keep the Vees lead at one goal.
Three third period markers helped Penticton ice the game in the final frame beginning with Jacob Quillan finding the back of the net in back-to-back contests. Quillan cruised his way to the top of the point before letting a shot go through traffic that had eyes for the back of the net as it beat Thomson over his glove hand for his 9th goal of the season at the 8:57 mark of the 3rd period to push the Vees ahead by a 3-1 margin.
Lane continued to keep the puck out of the Vees goal and they added on with Ben Wozney collecting his 3rd goal of the season for a 4-1 lead. A give-and-go between Wozney and Quillan saw the Vees defender gather the puck in the left face-off circle and squeeze a shot through the pads of Thomson at the 15:26 mark of the final frame to give Penticton a 4-1 edge.
The BC Hockey League leader in goals in Luc Wilson collected his 14th goal of the season to round out the scoring at the 17:15 mark of the 3rd period. Tom Richter sent a pass from the right to left wing as Wilson tapped home the puck on the blocker side of Thomson for a 5-1 lead.
Kaeden Lane was strong as he has been all season long, turning aside 25 of the 26 shots thrown his way for his 12th win of the season while Jay Thomson stopped 23 of the 28 shots fired his direction in his 4th loss of the campaign.
FINAL SCORE: 5-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 28-26 Vees
VEES PP: 0/1
VEES PK: 3/3
3 STARS:
1) Tristan Amonte (1-1-2)
2) Kaeden Lane (25 saves on 26 shots)
3) Jacob Quillan (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Tyler Ho (0-0-0)
The Vees (14-1-0-1) are back in action in search of their sixth win in a row as they face-off against the Trail Smoke Eaters (7-8-0-0) on Sunday evening at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 4:00 PM with the game broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as on HockeyTV.com and Shaw Spotlight beginning with the pre-game show at 3:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
