PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, BC. – The Penticton Vees more than doubled up the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in shots on goal, firing 43 pucks on net but fell in a shootout by a 4-3 score on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Penticton opened the game with a fair amount of pressure inside of the Salmon Arm zone and took an early 10-3 shot advantage but Owen Say stood tall in the Silverbacks net to keep the game scoreless before Jackson Nieuwendyk cracked the scoring open at the 6:10 mark to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.
Casey McDonald got the puck in the neutral zone and crept into the offensive end as he centered a pass from the left face-off circle on his backhand to the middle of the ice as a streaking Nieuwendyk as he went hard to the net and deflected the puck past the glove side of Say for his 6th goal of the season and pushed Penticton ahead by a 1-0 margin.
In a matchup of the two top penalty killing teams in the league, it was the Silverbacks PK that struck first and got Salmon Arm on the board to tie the game at 1-1. A turnover in the neutral zone allowed Simon Tassy to make his way into the offensive zone, getting to the right face-off circle and squeaking a shot through Vees netminder Kaeden Lane for his league-leading 21st goal of the season at the 10:22 mark of the season.
Salmon Arm’s power play struck in the 2nd period to give the ‘Backs their first lead of the game courtesy of their captain, Daniel Panetta. The Silverbacks moved the puck in the offensive end and a pass from the left goal line by Noah Serdachny spotted Panetta in the slot as he beat Lane on the glove side at the 6:04 mark of the 2nd period to push the Silverbacks ahead by a marker heading into the 3rd period.
A tandem forechecking effort by Bradly Nadeau and Brett Moravec resulted in the Vees second goal of the game and getting the score tied. Moravec caused havoc below the goal line, forcing the Silverbacks off the puck before Nadeau stole the loose puck, and played it to the front of the net where Moravec sliced it past the right pad of Say for his 12th marker of the season and 2:30 into the period, the game was tied up at 2-2.
The Vees once again were able to get ahead of the Silverbacks in the 3rd period as the team’s leading scorer in Josh Nadeau found the back of the net. Fin Williams created the play below the goal line, forcing the puck off of a defender and centering a pass to the middle of the ice as Nadeau had his first shot denied by Say before the rebound came to him as he backhanded the puck across the goal line for his 17th marker of the season and a 3-2 Vees lead with 4:45 remaining in the game.
The Vees protected the lead into the final minute and a half of the game with the Silverbacks emptying their net for a 6-on-5 attack. Jack Lammens moved the puck from the top of the point to the right face-off circle as Brandon Santa Juana snuck a shot through the right pad of Lane with 58 seconds remaining in the 3rd period to even the score at 3-3 and force overtime.
Penticton outshot Salmon Arm by a 4-2 margin in the overtime period but neither team could find the back of the net and the game was forced into a shootout as the Vees trekked to the skills competition for the first time this season.
The Vees shot first as Josh Nadeau missed on a move to the backhand before Brandon Santa Juana misfired to conclude the opening round. Luc Wilson couldn’t connect on a deke before Simon Tassy made a move to his backhand and lifted the puck over the glove side of Lane forcing Bradly Nadeau to keep the game going. The 16-year-old was stopped by Say and Salmon Arm came away with the extra point.
Kaeden Lane fell for the first time in the shootout this season, making 20 saves on 23 shots in the Vees net, surrendering a goal on two shooters in the shootout while Owen Say was terrific in the Silverbacks goal, turning aside 40 of the 43 shots he faced in his 13th win of the season while denying all three shooters he faced in the shootout.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Silverbacks (SO)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 43-21 Vees
3 STARS:
1) Simon Tassy (1-0-1, Shootout Winner)
2) Owen Say (40 saves on 43 shots)
3) Jackson Nieuwendyk (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Casey McDonald (0-1-1)
Attendance: 2,708
The Vees (18-2-0-1) will conclude their weekend of games with their first trip to the West Kootenays this season to battle the Trail Smoke Eaters (12-7-1-0) on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM from the Trail Memorial Centre with the game being broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
