PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used a 26-save effort from Kaeden Lane and five different goal scorers to earn their 9th consecutive victory in a 5-3 triumph over the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
For the second straight game, the Vees opened the game with three goals in the 1st period and it began courtesy of Spencer Smith and a hot start for the Vees, generating the game’s first eight shots on net. Ryan Hopkins fanned on a shot from the bottom of the right circle but helicoptered his stick to get a piece of the puck on his backhand to get it to the front of the net where Smith batted the puck in with his backhand for his 5th goal of the season and has now scored in three straight games to put Penticton ahead by a 1-0 score at the 10:23 mark of the opening frame.
Just 54 seconds later, Thomas Pichette got the Vees ahead by a pair of goals as he deflected in a pass from his billet roommate, Frank Djurasevic. The Vees defender sent a pass to the front of the net from the left half boards with Pichette awaiting its arrival at the top of the crease as he chipped the puck in for his 3rd goal of the season and gave Penticton a 2-0 lead at the 11:19 mark of the opening stanza.
After a pair of goals on Friday night, Brett Moravec concluded the scoring in the opening 20 minutes of action with a marker at the 14:01 mark of the period to push the Vees lead to three goals. Grayson Arnott sent a pass from the right face-off circle to the front of the goal as Moravec took the pass and sent a shot past the blocker side of Wild goaltender Andy Vlaha for his 9th goal of the season and a 3-0 advantage into the 2nd period of play.
It took only 55 seconds for the Vees to extend their lead to four goals in the middle stanza stemming from the silky hands of Josh Nadeau. The Vees forward made his way around a Wenatchee defender and tried to stuff the puck past the blocker side of Vlaha before the puck spilled out to the top of the right circle with Djurasevic backhanding the puck through the scramble for his 4th goal of the season to push Penticton ahead by a 4-0 score.
30 seconds after the Vees jumped ahead by four goals, Brett Oberle found the back of the net for Wenatchee to get the Wild back into the game as a seeing-eye shot from the right point that snuck through traffic cut the deficit to 4-1 early in the 2nd period.
The goal scoring tirade of Josh Nadeau continued in the 2nd period, burying his 16th goal of the season as he showed off his terrific speed and play making ability. The Vees forward worked down the right side of the ice, cutting to the middle before moving from his forehand to his backhand and sliding the puck past the glove side of Vlaha and has now registered goals in nine straight games.
Nadeau’s marker at 6:13 of the 2nd period was the end of the game for Vlaha as Tyler Shea took over in the Wenatchee crease and spurred a bit of a comeback from the Wild, including a power play goal at the 15:33 mark of the middle stanza courtesy of Jack Ivey.
Cade Stibbe also scored in the 3rd period at the 9:08 mark, chopping in a bouncing puck to get within a pair but after a strong 2nd period and final frame in the game, Kaeden Lane shut the door on another strong outing, stopping 26 of the 29 shots thrown his way in his 13th win of the season.
Andy Vlaha made 12 saves on 17 shots in the Wenatchee net on Saturday, taking his 6th loss of the season before Tyler Shea came on in relief and stopped all 10 shots thrown his way.
FINAL SCORE: 5-3 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 29-27 Wild
VEES PP: 0/2
VEES PK: 2/3
3 STARS:
1) Josh Nadeau (1-1-2)
2) Frank Djurasevic (1-1-2)
3) Jack Ivey (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Thomas Pichette (1-0-1)
Attendance: 2,895
The Vees (17-2-0-0) head back on the road for a Tuesday night clash against the Merritt Centennials (1-14-1-0) at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Puck drop from the Nicola Valley is slated for 7:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
