PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, BC. – Jackson Niedermayer played hero late in the game, scoring with just under three minutes remaining in the 3rd period as the Penticton Vees rattled off their 9th consecutive victory in a 3-2 triumph over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The opening period was a bit of a feeling out process for the Vees and Silverbacks as both teams played a defensive opening frame. It would be the visitors who would strike first in the game as Mat Bourgault pushed Salmon Arm ahead with a goal at the 6:31 mark of the opening period.
The Vees attempted to throw a puck up the middle of the ice that was intercepted in the slot by Bourgault as he fired a wrist shot past the blocker side of Penticton goaltender Yaniv Perets to give Salmon Arm a 1-0 lead. The ‘Backs would hold that lead through the 2nd period as the offence was a struggle to come by in the opening period.
The middle stanza opened well for the home side, striking twice in a span of 47 seconds to begin the period and get back into the hockey game. Captain Fin Williams tied the game for the Vees at the 2:24 mark of the middle frame, deflecting a pass from the left-wing corner off the stick of Luc Wilson for his 3rd Okanagan Cup goal and his second in as many games to tie the score at 1-1.
47 seconds later at the 3:11 mark, Jacob Quillan gave the Vees their first lead of the game with his 2nd goal of the tournament. Wilson was the facilitator of the offence again, knocking down a puck at the high slot and feeding a pass to the right face-off circle where Quillan gathered and laced a shot by the glove side of Silverbacks goaltender Riley Kohonick to help the Vees to a 2-1 lead.
Salmon Arm had an answer, however, and came in the way of a power play goal at the 7:41 mark of the 2nd period as Drew Bennett evened the score once again. Joaquim Lemay took a shot from the right point through heavy traffic that Perets was able to make a save on with the rebound being batted past him on the blocker side by Bennett that pushed the game to a 2-2 tie.
The Vees finished the period with the final five shots and started to create a push in the offensive end, including an Ethan Martini shot that found iron as it hit the cross bar and the follow up attempt by Tristan Amonte was denied as well to keep the game at a 2-2 score line heading into the 3rd period.
A pair of power plays for Penticton created a few chances in the 3rd period as they forced pucks to the front of the net but Kohonick stood tall in the final period before late in the game when a familiar face come through in a big spot.
The play started with Quinn Hutson collecting the puck below the goal line and sent a pass to the slot with one hand on his stick from behind the goal as Jackson Niedermayer came flying through the middle of the ice and chipping a puck over the glove shoulder of Kohonick for his 6th goal of the Okanagan Cup with 2:57 remaining in the game to push the Vees ahead by a 3-2 score.
Yaniv Perets made two big stops down the stretch for the Vees in the final period, turning aside 17 of the 19 shots he faced in the hockey game to earn his 6th win of the tournament. Riley Kohonick pushed away 23 shots on the 26 thrown his way in his 5th loss of the Okanagan Cup.
FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 26-19 Vees
3 STARS:
1) Luc Wilson (0-2-2)
2) Jackson Niedermayer (1-0-1)
3) Drew Bennett (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Devlin O’Brien (0-0-0)
The Vees (9-0-0-0) and Silverbacks (1-5-1-0) will conclude their four-game Okanagan Cup tournament series tomorrow night as they do battle from the Shaw Centre in the Shuswap. Puck drop is slated for 6:30 PM with the game available with a FREE audio stream at mixlr.com/pentictonvees as well as on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com.
