PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used four different goal scorers and a 19-save shutout from Yaniv Perets to help them to a 4-0 victory over the Powell River Kings on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
A quick, energetic start gave the Vees the opening goal of the hockey game just 24 seconds into action. A pass from below the goal line came to the front of the net off the stick of Tyler Ho as Tristan Amonte banged home the loose puck through the legs of Kings goaltender Derek Krall for his 9th goal of the season and give Penticton a 1-0 lead.
The Vees prevented pucks from getting to the front of their net, holding the Kings to just three shots in the opening frame while Penticton threw plenty of rubber of their former goaltender in Krall, who had to stop nine of ten shots thrown his way in the opening frame.
Powell River fought back in the game with a strong jump to begin the second period but it was Perets who was strong on his game, including a save on Brett Roloson from the slot as he got a piece of a shot with traffic in front of him early in the period.
Penticton doubled their lead at the 7:03 mark of the middle stanza courtesy of a highlight reel tally from Lukas Sillinger. The Vees forward took a pass inside the blue line and dragged the puck through a Kings defender before chipping past the blocker side of Krall for his 14th goal of the season and a 2-0 Vees lead for the home side.
The third period saw more of the same from the Vees, not giving up much in the defensive zone with Perets turning aside a Levi Glasman chance just 13 seconds into the period and pushed ahead by a 3-0 score on a Danny Weight marker coming just 1:54 into the final frame.
A stretch pass from the neutral zone spotted Weight at the blue line as he winded his way into the offensive zone, driving wide on the defender and making a deke to his backhand before sliding the puck past the glove side of Krall for his 16th goal of the season and a 3-0 advantage.
Captain David Silye capped off the scoring for the Vees, putting the home team ahead 4-0 on another terrific individual effort. Silye drove wide on the right side and protected the puck as he drove to the net, finishing off the play as he squeaked the puck through the legs of Krall for his 13th tally of the year and a four-goal lead.
Perets shut the door from there, turning aside all 19 shots he faced to push him to his league-leading 5th shutout of the season and 17th win of the year while Derek Krall made 29 saves on 33 shots in his 6th loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-0 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 33-19 Vees
VEES PP: 0/2
VEES PK: 1/1
3 STARS:
1) Yaniv Perets (19-save shutout)
2) Lukas Sillinger (1-1-2)
3) Conner Hutchison (0-2-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Liam Noble (0-0-0)
Attendance: 2,814
The Vees (27-10-1-0) conclude the 2019 portion of their schedule as they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals (22-12-3-1) on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with tickets available for purchase at the Valley First Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
