PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees got a late 1st period goal from Cade Webber and a 15-save shutout from Yaniv Perets, his third consecutive blanking, to help them to a 1-0 victory over the Vernon Vipers on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre at the BCHL Showcase Festival, presented by Bauer.
An entertaining opening period saw just one goal but plenty of pressure by the Vees, spending a large chunk of time inside of the Vernon end, helped by a pair of power plays as well before breaking the scoring open late in the 1st period at the 18:32 mark.
Colton Kalezic collected a Vipers turnover in the defensive end and slid a pass ahead through the neutral zone where Cade Webber was able to get in behind the defense and shot low on the glove side of Vipers goaltender Max Palaga for his 2nd goal of the season and the defender gave Penticton a 1-0 advantage late in the frame.
The Vees outshot the Vipers by a 12-6 margin after 20 minutes but Yaniv Perets had to be strong in the shots he faced in the Vees crease, including flashing the leather on Connor Marritt in tight with a right circle shot. Perets also stopped Matt Kowalski on a partial breakaway close to the goal to keep the game on even terms before Webber opened the scoring for the Vees.
The 2nd period saw the Vees continue to bring plenty of pressure and attack the Vernon net but the play of Max Palaga kept the game tight as the Vipers netminder played a big role in the game being close. Palaga turned aside all 12 Vees shots he faced in the middle stanza to keep the Vees lead at 1-0 through 40 minutes.
Palaga made the save of the night, denying Vees forward Lukas Sillinger in the slot as he slid to his blocker side for the denial after Sillinger took a pass from Danny Weight in the left face-off circle. Yaniv Perets was sharp in the Vees goal as well, making saves on all 4 shots he saw, including a breakaway save with his blocker on Marritt in front of the net.
Penticton continued to not allow Vernon much in the offensive zone, surrendering just five shots in the third period while the Vees put 10 more shots on the Vipers net but Palaga stood tall once again, stopping all the shots thrown his direction and turned aside 34 of the 35 shots he faced in the game in his 4th loss of the season.
For the third consecutive start, Yaniv Perets blanked his opponent, stopping all 15 of the shots he faced in his 5th win of the season and now sits at 180:55 without allowing a goal as he collected his third shutout of the year.
FINAL SCORE: 1-0 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 35-15 Vees
VEES PP: 0/4
VEES PK: 2/2
3 STARS:
1) Cade Webber (1-0-1)
2) Max Palaga (34 saves on 35 shots)
3) Yaniv Perets (15-save shutout)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Ethan Martini (0-0-0)
Attendance: 2,098
The Vees (9-0-0-0) conclude the BCHL Showcase Festival, presented by Bauer, on Saturday night as they take on the Wenatchee Wild (5-2-1-1) at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase at the SOEC Box Office as well as ValleyFirstTix.com.
The BCHL Showcase Festival, presented by Bauer, continues on Saturday with a four-game slate, including the Vees concluding the Showcase schedule against the Wild. Games begin at the South Okanagan Events Centre at 10:00 AM with puck drops following at 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Day passes are just $10 for the first three games of the day while regular pricing for the Vees game applies. Tickets can be purchased at the SOEC Box Office and online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
