PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
CRANBROOK, B.C. – The Penticton Vees saw their eight-game win streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss to the Cranbrook Bucks on Friday night at Western Financial Place.
The Vees opened the game with their first shot on goal finding iron as Stefano Bottini stepped into the slot on a turnover and wired a shot off the blocker side post of Bucks goaltender Nathan Airey in the opening two minutes of the game as the Vees and Bucks remained scoreless.
It wouldn’t be long after that that the Bucks were first to hit the scoresheet and came in the way of Bauer Morrissey. The Cranbrook defenseman got the puck in the slot after a pass from below the goal line and backhanded a shot past the blocker side of Vees netminder Kaeden Lane at the 3:54 mark of the opening period to give Cranbrook a 1-0 lead.
The Vees quickly had a response as 25 seconds after the opening goal, Ryan Hopkins levelled the score for Penticton at 1-1. Josh Niedermayer swung a pass from the left point to the right side as Hopkins laid a shot through traffic and past the blocker side of Airey for his 7th goal of the season and evened the score at 1-1.
The 1st period didn’t see much in the way of offense despite the two early goals. The Vees outshot the Bucks by a 9-8 margin in the opening 20 minutes of play as well as two posts with Bradly Nadeau ringing iron on a one-time shot on the power play before the 2nd period started.
Penticton outshot Cranbrook by a 13-8 count in the middle frame with the Bucks registering the lone goal as Luke Pfoh was the beneficiary of a fortunate bounce to the middle of the ice to give the Bucks their second lead of the game.
A centering pass from the left wing corner off the stick of Tyson Dyck deflected off the body of a Vees defenseman and bounced right to the forehand of Pfoh, who slid a shot past the glove side of Lane at the 11:01 mark of the 2nd period to push Cranbrook ahead by a goal heading into the 3rd period.
After a penalty kill that spilled into the final frame, the Vees made their way back into the game once more as Spencer Smith deflected a shot past Airey to even the score. Luc Wilson brought the puck into the offensive zone, delaying to the slot and letting a shot go from the top of the left face-off circle that banked off Smith and past Airey for his 10th goal of the season and levelled the game at 2-2 at the 1:20 mark of the 3rd period.
The two teams traded chances before the Bucks took their third lead of the game at the 10:07 mark of the 3rd with another favourable bounce finding the stick of Noah Quinn. The Vees attempt to clear the zone on the penalty kill pinballed to an open Quinn on the blocker side as he tucked in a goal to give Cranbrook a 3-2 advantage.
Quinn added his second of the game and an insurance marker at the 12:50 mark of the final period as Tyson Dyck created a turnover in the offensive zone, working a Vee off the puck in the left corner and moving to the net on a 2-on-0 with Quinn, who took a pass and beat Lane on the glove side for his second of the period to push Cranbrook ahead by a 4-2 score.
The Vees pulled their goaltender with over 3:30 minutes remaining in the game in hopes to generate some offence but could not find the back of the net as Jarrod Smith found the empty goal with 19 seconds remaining to give Cranbrook a 5-2 victory.
Kaeden Lane turned aside 19 of the 23 shots he faced in his 3rd loss of the season while Nathan Airey was strong in goal for Cranbrook, making 32 saves on 34 shots in his 19th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 5-2 Bucks
SHOTS ON GOAL: 34-24 Vees
VEES PP: 0/1
VEES PK: 1/2
3 STARS:
1) Noah Quinn (2-1-3)
2) Bauer Morrissey (1-0-1)
3) Tyson Dyck (0-4-4)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Luke Pfoh (1-1-2)
Attendance: 2,159
The Vees (40-8-0-2) play the final game of their two-game weekend in the East Kootenays as they take on the Cranbrook Bucks (28-19-2-3) on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM MST (6:00 PM PST) at Western Financial Place with the game being broadcasted live on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed online at BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 5:40 PM.
