PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
PENTICTON, B.C. – The Penticton Vees came-from-behind for the second straight game as Luc Wilson scored in overtime to help the Vees to their third straight victory in a 4-3 triumph over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Vees scored the first goal of the game for the second time in three contests with Stefano Bottini tallying his first goal of the season at the 2:28 mark of the opening frame. Right off the face-off, Bottini shot through the left wing off the draw and moved to his backhand and finished on the glove side of Smoke Eaters Evan Fradette to push Penticton ahead by a 1-0 margin.
Trail bounced back and tied the game at the 9:00 mark of the opening frame from a sharp angle in the left-wing corner as Teddy Lagerback evened the score. Lagerback got to the puck in the corner as he zipped a shot over the blocker side shoulder with 11 minutes to go in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1.
Before the period was out, 16-year-old Bradley Nadeau found the back of the net for the first time this season to give Penticton a one-goal lead once again. Thomas Pichette left the puck along the left-wing boards for Josh Nadeau as he sauced a pass to the right wing with Bradley taking the pass and placing a perfect shot underneath the blocker of Fradette with just over three minutes left in the opening period to send the Vees into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
The 2nd period was a bit hectic with plenty of action going on, the Vees outshot the Smoke Eaters by a 16-2 margin but Trail scored the only goal of the period to even the score at 2-2. Garrett Valk found a loose puck in front of the net as Jordan Hendry’s pass was knocked down by Valk, who beat Lane on the glove side at the 11:47 mark of the middle stanza to make it a 2-2 game.
The Vees hit a pair of posts in the middle stanza with Luc Wilson wiring a shot off a one-timer from the right face-off circle on the power play off the blocker side post before Bottini was denied of his second goal of the game, taking a pass from Brett Moravec tight to the goal and tipping a backhand off the glove side post as the game was 2-2 heading into the 3rd period.
For the fourth straight game, Zach Michaelis found the back of the net for the Smoke Eaters and gave Trail their first lead of the game at 3-2 at the 5:10 mark of the 3rd period. He took a pass right off the face-off from Corey Cunningham and slipped a shot underneath the pads of Lane to push Trail ahead by a one-goal margin.
After a two-goal performance on Saturday night, Josh Nadeau continued his strong play with another 3rd period tying goal to get the game even at 3-3. Nadeau took a Pichette pass in the left face-off circle and zipped a shot over the glove side shoulder of Fradette for his 3rd goal of the season and was able to force the game into overtime for the second straight contest.
In a back and forth overtime, which saw the Vees hit another post in the way of Josh Nadeau, Luc Wilson played hero for Penticton and ended the game with just 15 seconds remaining in the game. Wilson made his way into the offensive zone and held the puck to the slot where he sent a shot through Fradette for his 1st goal of the season and pushed the Vees to a 4-3 overtime victory.
Kaeden Lane turned aside 25 saves on 28 shots for his 2nd win of the season while Evan Fradette made 50 saves on 54 shots in his 3rd loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Vees (OT)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 54-28 Vees
VEES PP: 0/5
VEES PK: 6/6
3 STARS:
1) Luc Wilson (1-0-1)
2) Evan Fradette (50 saves on 54 shots)
3) Josh Nadeau (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Stefano Bottini (1-0-1)
The Vees (3-0-0-0) head out on the road for the first time this season as they made their way to the BC Hockey League Showcase in Chilliwack to face-off against the Langley Rivermen (2-0-0-0) on Wednesday night at the Chilliwack Coliseum. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM with the game broadcasted on Bounce 800 Radio as well as on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 7:10 PM.
