PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used a three-point performance from Luc Wilson and a 20-save shutout from Kaeden Lane to help them to their third win in a row with a 6-0 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Thursday night.
The Vees depth continued to show through, as it has over the course of the regular season, and Grayson Arnott was the latest Vee to file his first BC Hockey League goal at the 6:29 mark of the opening period and helped the Vees draw first blood in the game to finish off a nice passing play.
Liam Malmquist started the play in the neutral zone, sending a pass up the right-wing side where Luc Wilson received the feed and carried into the top of the right face-off circle before sliding a pass across to the left wing as Arnott took the pass and slid a shot through the legs of Smoke Eaters netminder Cayden Hamming for his first goal as a Vee and a 1-0 lead.
Penticton continued to apply pressure in the game and started to tilt the ice in their favour before taking a 2-0 lead at the 13:48 mark courtesy of Wilson and his second goal of the season. The Vees forward was sent in after reading a misplay at the Smoke Eaters blue line as he got by the defender and shot from the right face-off circle past the blocker side of Hamming for a 2-0 advantage.
In the 2nd period, the Vees continued to pour pressure on the Smoke Eaters net, sending a total of 22 pucks at the Trail net but Cayden Hamming was excellent in goal, making many big stops including a huge save on Fin Williams in the slot on a feed from the left corner from Ryan Upson on an odd-man chance that Hamming was able to get the leather on a make a stop.
The Vees broke through and were able to find their third goal of the hockey game at the 2:24 mark of the middle stanza with veteran forward Tyler Ho showing off his soft hands with a couple of strong moves to give the Vees a 3-0 lead.
Ho took a loose puck in the slot after a Trail turnover and outwaited a sliding defender before dragging and shooting past the glove side of Hamming for his 2nd goal of the season early in the period for a 3-0 advantage.
Hamming turned aside 21 of the 22 shots he faced in the middle frame as the Vees tilted the ice even more in their favour to gain a three-goal lead into the 3rd period. Kaeden Lane turned aside 6 shots in the 2nd period and all 14 he faced in the game in the Vees crease.
Wilson collected his second goal of the game just 42 seconds into the final period to extend the Vees advantage to four goals. The puck was sent to the blue line where Philippe Chapleau threw a shot on goal that was redirected by Wilson in the slot for his second goal of the game to push the lead to 4-0.
The Vees captain collected his first with the ‘C’ on his chest at the 10:26 mark of the 3rd period after tipping in a Jacob Quillan pass from the left-wing corner at the front of the net before Frank Djurasevic tallied his second goal of the season, finishing off a nice passing play from Ho just 27 seconds later at the 10:53 mark to extend the lead to 6-0, the eventual final score.
Kaeden Lane remain perfect in the game, making saves on each of the 20 shots he faced in his third win of the season and his first career BCHL shutout while Cayden Hamming kept his team in the game, making 44 saves on 50 shots in the losing cause, his second defeat of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 6-0 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 50-20 Vees
VEES PP: 1/6
VEES PK: 4/4
3 STARS:
1) Luc Wilson (2-1-3)
2) Tyler Ho (1-1-2)
3) Kaeden Lane (20-save shutout)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Grayson Arnott (1-0-1)
The Vees (3-0-0-0) are back at it with another matchup against the Cranbrook Bucks (1-2-0-0) for the second time on the season on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as on HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
