PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The Penticton Vees got a pair of goals from each of Danny Weight and Jay O’Brien while five 3rd period markers helped them to a 9-2 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors in Game #3 of their best-of-seven Interior Division Quarter Final and vaulted them to a 3-0 series lead.
Penticton came out of the gate with a strong flurry before Yaniv Perets had to be at his best, making a pair of big first period saves. The Vees goaltender denied Nicolas Ardanaz from the slot as he was fed from the left-wing on a Tyler Cristall pass with Perets flashing the leather and making a glove stop.
The Vees were first to find the back of the net at the 9:15 mark of the 1st period with Colton Kalezic popping his first goal of the series past the glove of Warriors goaltender Johnny Derrick. Kalezic took a Tristan Amonte pass inside the blue line and skated to the high slot before zipping a shot low past the glove side of Derrick to give the Vees a 1-0 advantage.
Perets came up large moments after the goal, keeping the Vees lead in tact with a terrific stop on an odd-man rush in tight to the net. Perets slid from right to left as affiliate forward Brendan Buhr played a backhand pass across the ice where Elan Bar-Lev-Wise shot but Perets came across with the left pad to deny the chance and keep the Vees ahead with a 1-0 lead.
Early in the 2nd period, Jay O’Brien continued his hot play in the series as he buried his 4th goal of the playoffs to push the Vees ahead by a 2-0 score. A give-and-go with Lukas Sillinger saw O’Brien gather the puck in the right-wing face-off circle on a feed from below the goal line and snapped a shot past the blocker side of Derrick at the 3:15 mark of the middle stanza to push the Vees ahead by two goals.
Danny Weight extended the Vees lead to three goals with his first of two goals on the game, burying a rebound on the power play for his 3rd goal in as many games. O’Brien put a shot on with the rebound kicking off the right pad of Derrick as Weight collected and beat the Warriors goaltender past the blocker side at the 9:06 mark of the 2nd period to give Penticton a 3-0 lead.
Just 51 seconds later, it was Weight again who registered his second goal of the contest in less than a minute. Liam Malmquist was strong on the puck, forcing a turnover below the goal line and centering a pass to the slot as Weight moved to his left and beat Derrick over the blocker at the 9:57 mark to make it a 4-0 Vees lead.
Carter Wilkie gave the Warriors some life at the tail end of the 2nd period at the 17:39 mark on the power play as he took a pass from Holden Kodak at the top of the right face-off circle and shot past Perets on the glove side to cut the deficit to 4-1.
West Kelowna got the game within a pair of goals early in the 3rd period with Deegan Mofford banking a centering attempt from the right-wing corner off of a Vees stick and over Perets shoulders at the 1:39 mark of the final frame to make it a 4-2 game in favour of Penticton.
The Vees were quick to answer, and right off of a face-off, as Ethan Martini scored his first goal of the series. Kalezic won the draw back to the point as Martini blasted a slap shot past the blocker side of Derrick to increase the Vees lead to 5-2 at the 3:12 mark of the 3rd period.
O’Brien added his second of the contest at the 8:03 mark on another strong fore checking play, causing a turnover behind the West Kelowna net as Malmquist collected the loose puck and fed a pass from the glove side to the blocker side where O’Brien knocked in his second of the game and pushed the Vees lead to 6-2.
The Vees continued with their scoring touch as Tristan Amonte tallied his 1st goal of the playoffs at the 9:33 mark. Carson Kosobud sent a slap pass from the left face-off circle to the front of the net where the puck was redirected and batted in by Amonte, who gave Penticton a 7-2 advantage and ended the game for the Warriors goaltender as Riley Morgan came on for the second time in the series.
Jackson Niedermayer made it an 8-2 lead with a power play goal, redirecting a point shot from Conner Hutchison as he deflected a shot past the glove side of Morgan for his 1st of the series at the 10:05 mark before Tyler Ho closed out the scoring with his 4th shorthanded goal of the series at 19:41 as he tallied on a penalty shot, beating Morgan over the glove hand with a deke from his backhand to his forehand to push Penticton to a 9-2 victory.
Yaniv Perets was excellent for the third straight game, making 24 saves on 26 shots for his 3rd win of the series while Johnny Derrick turned aside 33 of the 40 shots he faced in his 3rd loss of the playoffs before Riley Morgan made 7 saves on 9 shots in relief.
FINAL SCORE: 9-2 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 49-26 Vees
VEES PP: 2/3
VEES PK: 3/4
3 STARS:
1) Jay O’Brien (2-2-4)
2) Danny Weight (2-0-2)
3) Yaniv Perets (24 saves on 26 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jake Harrison (0-0-0)
Attendance: 1,153
The two teams will lock horns once again on Tuesday night for Game #4 of their best-of-seven Interior Division Quarter Final series with the Vees leading the Warriors by a 3-0 margin. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM from Royal LePage Place with the game being broadcasted live on EZ Rock AM 800 as well as HockeyTV.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM with the Voice of the Vees, Trevor Miller.
