LANGLEY, B.C. – The Penticton Vees used four different goal scorers to help them to their third consecutive victory in a 4-3 win over the Langley Rivermen on Tuesday night at the George Preston Arena.
The Rivermen were first to find the back of the net in the opening period as Tristan Fraser gave the home side a 1-0 advantage. A three-way passing play saw Joseph Musa take a pass before firing a puck from the right wing to the left face-off circle where Fraser gathered and pushed the puck up and over the right shoulder of Vees goaltender Yaniv Perets for the 1-0 lead at the 3:27 mark of the opening period.
The Vees came back in a big way, registering the next three goals and tying the game at the 10:23 mark of the 1st period as Darwin Lakoduk tallied his first goal as a member of the club. David Silye worked his way into the right face-off circle and sent a pass to the front of the net as a streaking Lakoduk chipped it in off his backhand through the blocker side of Rivermen netminder Braedon Fleming for his 6th goal of the season and first as a Vee to tie the game.
Penticton took their first lead of the game at the 17:04 mark of the opening frame as the power play pushed the Vees ahead. Just as 4-on-4 play expired, Alex DiPaolo raced down a puck in the left face-off circle and passed to the right side as Colton Kalezic took the pass and laced a shot past the blocker side of Fleming for his 8th goal of the season and pushing the visitors ahead for the first time with a 2-1 advantage.
Perets came up with some big stops in the 2nd period, including a breakaway save on Fraser early in the frame before the Vees went to their 4th power play of the night and capitalized for the second time, this one coming at the tail end of the man advantage.
Jay O’Brien gathered the puck in the right face-off circle and sent a pass to the midpoint as Steve Holtz ushered the puck along for Liam Malmquist as the Vees forward walked into the left face-off circle and zipped a shot over the left shoulder of Fleming for his 8th goal of the season and a 3-1 advantage for Penticton at the 8:03 mark of the 2nd period.
Just 1:39 later, the Rivermen brought the game to within a goal on a deflection in front of the goal. Colton Kovich took a right point shot that redirected off the stick of Brendan Budy in the slot to get within a goal and make the score 3-2 in favour of the Vees at the 9:42 mark.
The Vees restored their two-goal advantage just moments into the 3rd period as Tristan Amonte scored what would stand up as the game winning goal. Amonte took a shot from the left face-off circle off the rush with Fleming making the first save before Amonte pounced on the rebound and chipped it past the glove side of the Langley goaltender for his 8th goal of the season and a 4-2 Vees lead just 1:13 into the final frame.
Langley once again would cut the deficit to one goal with a power play marker at the 5:17 mark with Ryan Helliwell beating Perets from the left wing. Helliwell put a shot on from the left point that found its way through traffic and past the Vees netminder to cut the Vees lead to 4-3.
The Vees went into a defensive stand after that, not allowing many chances to get through to their goaltender and would ice away a 4-3 victory on the road. Yaniv Perets turned aside 21 of the 24 shots he faced in his 12th win of the season while Braeden Fleming stopped 20 of the 24 shots thrown his way in his 11th loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 24-24
VEES PP: 2/4
VEES PK: 3/4
3 STARS:
1) Jay O’Brien (0-1-1)
2) Ryan Helliwell (1-0-1)
3) Tristan Amonte (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Joseph Musa (0-1-1)
Attendance: 735
The Vees (21-5-1-0) look to finish off their two-game Mainland swing on a winning note in a battle for 1st place in the BCHL against the Coquitlam Express (21-5-0-0) on Wednesday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:15 PM at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre with the game being broadcasted on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:55 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
