NANAIMO, B.C. – The Penticton Vees collected their 13th Fred Page Cup in franchise history and 16th consecutive win to close out the playoffs with a four-game sweep of the Nanaimo Clippers following an 8-2 victory in Game #4 of the BCHL Final on Wednesday night at Frank Crane Arena.
The Vees kicked off Game #4 with a terrific start and got the scoring going early in the way of Ryan Hopkins second goal of the playoffs to give Penticton an early lead in the opening frame. Hopkins got the puck back at the right point and fired a shot at the Nanaimo net as Cooper Black had it go past him at the 2:08 mark of the opening period as the Vees earned a 1-0 lead early into Game #4.
After a big penalty kill and denying Nanaimo of a pair of opportunities in front of the net, Frank Djurasevic helped the Vees to a two-goal lead with his second goal in as many games and his 2nd of the playoffs. Similar to Hopkins marker, Djurasevic got the puck at the right point as he shot to the net had eyes through traffic and beat Black on the blocker side at the 8:52 mark of the opening period to give the Vees a 2-0 advantage halfway through the 1st frame.
Penticton added to their lead in the opening period at the 15:03 mark with Thomas Pichette putting the Vees ahead by a 3-0 score. Pichette got the puck in the neutral zone and came down the left side and cut to the middle as he sent a shot past the blocker side of Black to give Penticton a three-goal lead into the 2nd period.
Bradly Nadeau added the first of his three Game #4 goals at the 5:09 mark of the middle frame after converting a turnover into the back of the net. Adam Eisele stole the puck inside the offensive zone and came in on a 2-on-0 as he sent a pass to Bradly at the blocker side who beat Black for his 9th goal of the playoffs for a 4-0 lead.
Nanaimo got on the scoresheet with Charles Tardif getting the Clippers first goal of the game before the Vees picked up their four-goal lead once again as Josh Nadeau buried his team-leading 12th goal of the postseason on a power play marker, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play at the 9:24 mark of the 2nd period for a 5-1 lead.
Spencer Smith extended the Vees lead to 6-1 at the 13:08 mark of the 2nd period with a shot from the slot for his 3rd goal of the playoffs and pushed the Vees as advantage to five goals.
The Clippers made it a 6-2 game as Cole Hansen found the back of the net before Bradly Nadeau netted his second of the game and finished off a four-goal 2nd period for the Vees, who took a 7-2 lead into the 3rd period.
Bradly completed his hat trick in the final period with his 11th goal of the playoffs, knocking in a loose puck at the front of the goal to finish off the scoring at 8-2 and help the Vees to the Fred Page Cup title.
Kaeden Lane turned aside 21 of the 23 shots thrown his way in his 16th and final win of the playoffs while Cooper Black made 50 saves on 58 shots in his 4th loss of the postseason.
FINAL SCORE: 8-2 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 58-23 Vees
VEES PP: 2/5
VEES PK: 2/2
3 STARS:
1) Bradly Nadeau (3-1-4)
2) Josh Nadeau (1-2-3)
3) Luc Wilson (0-3-3)
Attendance: 2,069
The Vees are planning a celebration of their Fred Page Cup championship slated for next week. Keep posted to the Vees social medias and website for all the information.
