MERRITT, B.C. – The Penticton Vees got a 14-save shutout from Kaeden Lane and seven different goal scorers to combine for an 8-0 shutout victory over the Merritt Centennials on Tuesday night at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
Scoring for the fourth time in his last five games, Brett Moravec got the game going for Penticton to push the visitors ahead by a 1-0 margin 7:37 into the hockey game. Bradly Nadeau dropped a pass for Moravec in the left face-off circle as the Vees forward skated on to it and ripped a shot past the glove side of Centennials goaltender Keegan Maddocks for his 10th marker of the season and helped the Vees strike first.
Despite going to the penalty kill three times in the opening 20 minutes, and only working on one power play, the Vees outshot the Centennials by a 15-8 margin after one period before a four-goal 2nd period pushed the game out of reach and it started with a goal on the man advantage as Grayson Arnott found the back of the net for the 1st time this season.
The Vees defender got the puck at the right point as he sent a shot flying past the blocker side of Maddocks to push the Vees lead to a pair at the 2:10 mark of the 2nd period.
Jackson Nieuwendyk pushed the Vees advantage to 3-0 just over halfway through the middle stanza with his 5th goal of the season. Nieuwendyk took a Stefano Bottini drop pass and snapped a shot through the blocker side of Maddocks to increase the Vees lead to 3-0 at the 11:47 mark of the 2nd period.
Two goals in a span of 1:12 helped the Vees to sizeable lead, beginning with Thomas Pichette’s 4th goal of the season as he has now scored in back-to-back games. Kaeden Lane started the play, sending a pass from behind the red line as Pichette moved to the puck in the right face-off and chopped the puck over the blocker shoulder of Maddocks at the 16:33 mark.
Luc Wilson capped off the four-goal period, going hard to the net and tapping in a centering pass from Josh Nadeau, who was in the right face-off circle as he spotted Wilson going hard to the goal for his 13th marker of the season and a 5-0 lead heading into the final period of play.
Penticton added three more goals in the final 20 minutes of play as Moravec tallied his second goal of the game on a terrific effort from Bradly Nadeau, who outworked a pair of Centennial defenders and passed in front to an open Moravec who collected his 11th goal of the season 1:46 into the final frame for a 6-0 advantage.
Fin Williams and the power play struck for the Vees in giving Penticton a 7-0 lead just under midway through the frame, toe-dragging around a defender and finding day light through the blocker shoulder for his 8th goal of the season before the first BCHL goal from Beanie Richter finished off the scoring.
Richter gathered the puck in the right face-off circle and beat Maddocks over his shoulder at the 13:19 mark of the final period for his 1st career BCHL marker and capped off the scoring on another impressive outing by the Vees in an 8-0 shutout victory.
Kaeden Lane crept into the history books with a 14-save shutout for his 14th win of the season and has now earned 8 career shutouts, placing him in a tie for 6th all-time on the BCHL shutout list. Keegan Maddocks stopped 39 of the 47 shots thrown his way in his 8th loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 8-0 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 47-14 Vees
VEES PP: 2/3
VEES PK: 4/4
3 STARS:
1) Luc Wilson (1-1-2)
2) Brett Moravec (2-0-2)
3) Bradly Nadeau (0-2-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Keegan Maddocks (39 saves on 47 shots)
Attendance: 109
The Vees (18-2-0-0) return home for a 1st place showdown against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (17-4-1-0) on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com. The game will also be broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
