PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees got a 3rd period goal from Owen Simpson as they earned a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Fred Page Cup Final series with a 3-1 victory over the Nanaimo Clippers in Game #2 on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Game #2 started in a similar fashion to Game #1 as both teams threw rubber on goal but the game remained scoreless before the Vees were able to get ahead and open the scoring again in the series with Beanie Richter gathering a rebound to give Penticton the opening edge.
The puck got back to the blue line with Ryan Hopkins sending a shot to the front of the net with Clippers goaltender Cooper Black making a right pad save before Richter cleaned up the loose puck in front and slid it underneath the right leg of the Nanaimo netminder for his 3rd goal of the playoffs at the 11:32 mark of the opening period to get the Vees ahead by a one-goal margin heading into the 2nd period.
The defensive side of both teams came through in the middle period with just 15 total shots in the 2nd frame as there was not much ice available. The Clippers were the lone team to get themselves a 2nd period goal and tie the game at 1-1 in the middle frame. Kai Daniells threw the puck from below the goal line off the back of Kaeden Lane in the Vees net and had it go behind him into the back of the net as the Nanaimo forward has goals in back-to-back games to get the game into a tie heading into the 3rd period at the 13:20 mark of the 2nd period.
With the game tied in the 3rd period, the Vees went to work in the offensive zone and were able to get ahead for the second time in the game and gave the Vees a third period lead at the 7:47 mark of the final frame from an unlikely source.
Richter freed the puck up from below the goal line as the Vees sustained time inside of the offensive zone and got the puck to the left point where Owen Simpson came racing off the bench to hold the blue line and sent a shot through traffic past the blocker side of Black for his 1st career BC Hockey League playoff goal to get Penticton ahead by a 2-1 score.
The Vees were able to keep the one-goal lead intact with some chances around the Vees net and Kaeden Lane keeping things locked down in the defensive end before the Clippers pulled their goaltender with just around a minute to go and Penticton putting the game on ice with 31 seconds remaining.
After a good stand in the defensive zone, the Vees worked the puck out of their end as Jackson Nieuwendyk got the puck in the neutral zone and sliced the puck down to the empty net for his 8th goal of the playoffs to give Penticton a 3-1 lead, which would stand as the eventual final score.
Kaeden Lane made 18 saves on 19 shots as he was terrific in his 14th win of the playoffs while Cooper Black made 29 saves on 31 shots in his 2nd loss of the playoffs.
FINAL SCORE: 3-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 31-19 Vees
VEES PP: 0/1
VEES PK: 3/3
3 STARS:
1) Beanie Richter (1-1-2)
2) Owen Simpson (1-0-1)
3) Brett Moravec (0-2-2)
Attendance: 3,906
The Vees will head to Vancouver Island with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Fred Page Cup Final as they take on the Nanaimo Clippers from Frank Crane Arena in Game #3 on Tuesday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available on broadcast on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed online on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
