PHOTO: Chris Fowler/Pure Life Photography
SALMON ARM, B.C. – The Penticton Vees scored three power play goals and commanded stretches of the game but fell by a 4-3 score to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday night at the Shaw Centre.
The Vees started the game as well as they could have and outshot the Silverbacks by an 8-0 margin early on in the game and jumped ahead by a 1-0 score at the 9:03 mark courtesy of the power play. Danny Weight redirected a Steve Holtz point shot past the glove side of Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger for his 11th goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage.
Another power play doubled the Vees lead with a goalmouth scramble being pushed across the goal line at the tail end of the man advantage. Jackson Niedermayer took the puck to the net from the left side and had his shot stopped by Langenegger with the puck going to the right side as David Silye banged it off the post and the back of the right leg of the netminder before Silye got another whack and pushed the puck into the back of the goal for his 7th goal of the season and a 2-0 Vees lead at the 13:13 mark of the 1st period.
The Silverbacks began to work their way into the hockey game with a Sam Schofield marker at the 16:47 mark of the opening frame. Schofield got a pass from below the goal line in the left face-off circle and snuck a shot under the pad of Vees goaltender Carl Stankowski to get the Silverbacks on the board.
In the final minute of the frame, Salmon Arm got the game on even terms on a shot from the left face-off circle. Noah Wakeford centered the puck from below the goal line as Daniel Rybarik took the pass and snapped a shot over the glove side of Stankowski to knot the game at 2-2 with 47 seconds remaining in the period.
Salmon Arm took their first lead of the game at the 6:19 mark of the 2nd period on a play that looked to be offside but was allowed to continue. Jayden Price sent a pass to Dominic Garozzo over the blue line before spotting Nick Martino at the front of the net and he directed the puck through the legs of Stankowski for a 3-2 Silverbacks lead.
The Vees came back and tied the score with their third power play goal of the game and a highlight reel marker by Lukas Sillinger. Danny Weight sent a pass between his legs from below the goal line to the slot as Sillinger collected and dragged the puck to his backhand before lifting a shot over the glove side of Langenegger for his 10th goal of the season and a 3-3 tie at the 15:15 mark of the 2nd period.
A power play goal for the Silverbacks held up as the eventual game winning marker on a man advantage that carried over into the 3rd period. Akito Hirose gathered the puck at the right point before throwing a shot on goal that was redirected in front from Coalson Wolford past the blocker side of Stankowski to give Salmon Arm a 4-3 advantage.
The Vees pressed for the equalizer, firing 11 shots on the Silverbacks net but Langenegger stood tall to help the Silverbacks to the victory. Carl Stankowski turned aside 16 of the 20 shots thrown his way in his 1st loss of the season while Ethan Langenegger stopped 32 of the 35 shots thrown his way in his 13th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Silverbacks
SHOTS ON GOAL: 35-20 Vees
VEES PP: 3/8
VEES PK: 3/4
3 STARS:
1) Sam Schofield (1-0-1)
2) Nick Martino (1-0-1)
3) Lukas Sillinger (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Kieran Ruscheinski (0-0-0)
Attendance: 806
The Vees (18-5-1-0) make their way back to the South Okanagan Events Centre for a pair of weekend games beginning on Friday night as they host the Silverbacks (18-5-1-0) for the first time this season. Puck drop from the SOEC is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available at the SOEC Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
