PHOTO: James Doyle
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used the effort of five different goal scorers and 26 saves from Kaeden Lane to earn a 5-1 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Wednesday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
An opening period that yielded just 12 shots on goal did not have many offensive opportunities but the Spruce Kings were able to find the back of the net and give themselves a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the game.
Connor Elliott sent a shot to the front of the net from the left point that was redirected into the back of the net from the slot off the stick of Nathan Fox and tipped the puck past the glove side of Vees netminder Kaeden Lane for the one-goal advantage.
Lane was solid in the Vees net in the opening 20 minutes, turning aside 6 of the 7 shots thrown his way, including a couple of big stops in front of the net while Spruce Kings goaltender Aaron Trotter pushed aside each of the 5 shots thrown his way through the opening frame.
The Vees found their offensive game in the 2nd period and tied the game at the 4:29 mark of the middle stanza as Josh Nadeau extended his goal scoring streak to seven games with his 14th goal of the season. Finn Williams fed Nadeau a pass from inside the left point as he raced into the offensive zone and spotted Nadeau, who took a shot and beat Trotter past the glove side for his 14th goal of the season to even the score at 1-1.
A minute and a half later, Stefano Bottini pushed the Vees ahead for the first time in the game with his 6th goal of the season. Bottini collected the puck in the neutral zone and raced his way into the zone on the right wing before sending a shot past the blocker side of Trotter at the 5:59 of the middle frame for a 2-1 Vees advantage.
Casey McDonald extended the Vees lead to a pair of goals at the 14:45 mark of the period to cap off a three-goal frame from the visitors. Off a face-off in the right circle, McDonald jumped through and beat everyone to the puck at the front of the net, moving to his forehand and sliding the puck past the glove side of Trotter for his 8th marker of the season and a two-goal Vees lead into the 3rd period.
Penticton’s power play then played a factor in the night, scoring for the 14th consecutive game to give the Vees a 4-1 advantage. Luc Wilson gathered the puck in the left face-off circle and zipped a shot over the glove side of Trotter for his 12th goal of the season and ended the night of the Spruce Kings netminder as Jordan Fairlie took over at the 2:24 mark of the final period.
Concluding the scoring on the man advantage was Spencer Smith, tallying his 3rd goal of the season and pushing the Vees lead to 5-1. Grayson Arnott had his point shot stopped by Fairlie before Smith was on the doorstep to bang in the rebound for his 3rd goal of the season at the 11:25 mark of the period as the Vees went ahead by four goals.
Kaeden Lane and the Vees shut the door the rest of the way as the 20-year-old netminder turned aside 26 of the 27 shots thrown his way in his 11th win of the season while Aaron Trotter made 10 saves on 14 shots in his 5th loss of the season before Jordan Fairlie played the final 18+ minutes of the game, stopping 10 of the 11 shots thrown his way
FINAL SCORE: 5-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 27-25 Spruce Kings
VEES PP: 2/4
VEES PK: 6/6
3 STARS:
1) Josh Nadeau (1-1-2)
2) Grayson Arnott (0-2-2)
3) Luc Wilson (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Nathan Fox (1-0-1)
Attendance: 606
The Vees (15-2-0-0) will return home for a pair of weekend games, beginning on Friday night against the Cranbrook Bucks (9-7-1-0) at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available online at ValleyFirstTix.com as well as in person at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC Box Office. The game will also be broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.
Friday marks the annual Teddy Bear Toss taking place after the Vees opening goal of the night. Bring a new or gently used teddy bear, stuffed animal, pajamas, mittens, toques and more wrapped in a plastic bag to be collected after the Vees opening goal of the game. Interior Health also lifted capacity restrictions as the SOEC will now host 100% of their capacity, for the first time this season, on Friday night.
