PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees had eight different goal scorers, including three-point efforts from Conner Hutchison and David Silye, to help them to a 9-1 victory over the Merritt Centennials on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Both teams came out with a physical edge to begin the hockey game as Tristan Amonte delivered the hardest check of the period, throwing his shoulder into Brayden Clark before Penticton was first to find the back of the net and take a 1-0 lead at the 7:26 mark of the 1st frame.
Danny Weight gathered the puck in the neutral zone before entering the offensive end, getting around a pair of defenders through the slot and put the puck through his legs before lifting a shot over the glove shoulder of Centennials goaltender Tanner Marshall for his 20th goal of the season and the highlight reel marker pushed the Vees ahead by a 1-0 score.
The Centennials evened the score at the 13:23 mark on a breakaway tally from Evan Benwell. The Merritt forward took a pass in the neutral zone and made a move from his forehand to his backhand before beating Vees goaltender Carl Stankowski on the blocker side at the 13:23 mark to even the game at 1-1.
Stankowski came up in a big spot to keep the game on even terms before the period was out, coming across on his glove side to kick out the left pad on a slot shot from Jerzy Orchard on a one-time shot to head into the 2nd intermission in a 1-1 tie.
The Vees came out of the intermission with an offensive explosion, scoring six times in the middle stanza of the game, taking a 2-1 lead at the 1:36 mark. Conner Hutchison started the play in the neutral zone, passing to the left wing where Weight corralled to the left face-off circle and spotted Jay O’Brien at the right post, who tapped in his 16th goal of the season for a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd period.
David Silye gave the Vees a two-goal lead at the 3:25 mark of the 2nd period with a power play marker. The Vees captain gathered the puck in the left face-off circle and snapped a shot past the blocker side of Marshall for his 19th goal of the season and gave Penticton a 3-1 lead.
The lead was extended to three goals at the 9:23 mark of the 2nd period with Jackson Niedermayer wiring a shot past the glove side of Marshall. Niedermayer came down the left-wing before shooting a laser from the face-off circle over the glove for his 18th goal of the season to extend the lead to 4-1.
O’Brien added his second goal of the contest at the 11:39 mark of the middle stanza after a terrific toe-drag move by Conner Hutchison, getting around a defender before wristing a shot that was deflected at the top of the crease by O’Brien for his 17th tally of the season and a 5-1 advantage.
Tristan Amonte helped the Vees to a 6-1 lead, finishing off a Lukas Sillinger feed as he weaved around a defender in the slot and spotted an open Amonte, who lifted the puck over the glove side of Marshall for his 14th marker of the year and a five-goal lead.
The six-goal frame was capped off by Jack Barnes earning his 6th goal of the season, sticking with a bouncing puck that slid past the blocker side post before he tucked it in by the right post to give the Vees a 7-1 lead into the 3rd period.
Merritt turned to emergency backup goaltender Bryce Garcia in the 3rd period as the Vees scored twice in the final minute to conclude a big offensive performance. Liam Malmquist tallied his 15th goal of the season with a spinning shot from the slot with 50 seconds remaining in the game before Darwin Lakoduk saw a centering pass glance off a skate and in for his 8th marker of the season 27 seconds later with 23 seconds remaining and added to the 9-1 final.
Carl Stankowski turned aside 28 of the 29 shots he faced for his 10th victory of the season while Tanner Marshall stopped 26 of the 33 shots thrown his way in 40 minutes of play, suffering his 17th loss of the season before Bryce Garcia made 11 saves on 13 shots in the 3rd period in relief.
FINAL SCORE: 9-1 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 46-29 Vees
VEES PP: 1/5
VEES PK: 7/7
3 STARS:
1) Conner Hutchison (0-3-3)
2) David Silye (1-2-3)
3) Danny Weight (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jay O’Brien (2-0-2)
Attendance: 2,840
The Vees (34-11-1-1) conclude a weekend of back-to-back games at the South Okanagan Events Centre in a matchup against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (23-18-1-1) on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with tickets available for purchase at the Valley First Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
