Penticton Vees (1-0-0-1) (44-9-3-2, 1st in Interior)
West Kelowna Warriors (1-0-0-1) (29-21-0-8, 4th Interior)
GM 3 Venue: Royal LePage Place
GM 3 Face-Off: 7pm
Season Series: Oct 10th 4-3 Vees, SOEC, Oct 11th 4-0 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Nov 5th 3-2 Warriors, SOEC, Nov 29th 4-3 Warriors, SOEC, Dec 19th 4-2 Vees, SOEC, Dec 20th 7-2 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Jan 20th 8-4 Vees, Royal LePage Place
Playoff Series Schedule
Game 1 4-3 (2 OT) West Kelowna
Game 2 3-2 (OT) Penticton
Game 3 March 6th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 4 March 7th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 5* March 9th (SOEC) 7pm
Game 6* March 10th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 7* March 11th (SOEC) 7pm
* If necessary
Vees Season Record vs. West Kelowna: 5-2-0-0 (Home: 2-2-0 / Away: 3-0-0)
Road Season Record: 19-6-2-2
Vees Record vs. Interior Division: 26-7-1-1
Vees Leading Scorer: Patrick Newell 16-31-47
Vees Playoff Scoring:
Demico Hannoun 2-0-2 Lewis Zerter-Gossage 1-0-1
Matt Serratore 2-0-2 Connor Chartier 0-1-1
Gabe Bast 0-2-2 Jarod Hilderman 0-1-1
Dakota Conroy 0-2-2 Patrick Sexton 0-1-1
Miles Gendron 0-2-2 Mitch Newsome 0-1-1
Tyson Jost 1-0-1
Playoff Goaltending vs. West Kelowna
Hunter Miska 1-1-0 / 2.42 GAA / .914 save-percentage
Vees Regular Season Scoring vs. West Kelowna:
Lewis Zerter-Gossage 2-8-10 Mike Lee 1-3-4
Patrick Newell 5-4-9 Jack Ramsey 1-3-4
Demico Hannoun 4-5-9 Gabe Bast 0-3-3
Tyson Jost 4-2-6 Dante Fabbro 0-3-3
Riley Alferd 2-3-5 Matt Serratore 2-0-2
Steen Cooper 2-3-5 Patrick Sexton 1-1-2
Dakota Conroy 2-3-5 Miles Gendron 0-2-2
Cody DePourcq 1-4-5 Jarod Hilderman 0-2-2
Connor Chartier 4-0-4 Mitch Newsome 0-2-2
Mike Lee 1-3-4 Cam Amantea 0-1-1
Goaltending vs. West Kelowna:
Hunter Miska GP 6 4-2-0 / 2.51 GAA / .912 SV % / 1 SO
Brendan Barry GP 1 1-0-0 / 3.00 GAA / .857 SV %
Vees Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 31-4-2-2 (0-0-0-1) Lead after 2nd: 39-2-1-1 (0-0-0-1)
Opposition Scores 1st: 13-5-2-0 (1-0-0-0) Tied after 2nd: 4-2-2-1
Lead after 1st: 22-1-1-1 Trail after 2nd: 3-5-0-0 (1-0-0-0)
Tied after 1st: 17-5-1-1 (1-0-0-1) More Shots: 38-9-0-1 (1-0-0-1)
Trail after 1st: 5-3-1-0 Outshot: 6-0-2-1
Shots Tied: 0-0-1-0
Warriors Regular Season Record vs. Penticton: 2-5-0-0 (Home: 0-3-0 / Away: 2-2-0)
Warriors Regular Season Home Record: 18-9-0-2
Warriors Record vs. Interior Division: 16-15-0-4
Warriors Leading Scorer: Liam Blackburn 22-51-73
Warriors Playoff Scoring:
Andrew Johnson 1-2-3 Kyle Marino 0-2-2
Jason Cotton 1-1-2 Kristian Blumenschein 1-0-1
Brayden Gelsinger 1-1-2 Josh Bly 1-0-1
Nick Rutigliano 1-1-2 Tanner Campbell 0-1-1
Jonathan Desbiens 0-2-2 Brett Mennear 0-1-1
Warriors Playoff Goaltending vs. Penticton
Scott Patton 1-1-0 / 2.42 GAA / 9.41 save-percentage
Warriors Regular Season Scoring vs. Penticton:
Brayden Gelsinger 2-4-6 Kylar Hope 1-1-2
Jonathan Desbiens 4-1-5 Braeden Jones 1-1-2
Liam Blackburn 2-3-5 Kristian Blumenschein 0-1-1
Jason Cotton 1-2-3 Tyler Kunz 0-1-1
Brett Mennear 1-2-3 Nick Rutigliano 0-1-1
Andrew Johnson 0-3-3 Rylan Yaremko 0-1-1
Josh Bly 2-0-2 Hunter Zandee 0-1-1
Tanner Campbell 1-1-2
Goaltending vs. Penticton:
Andy Desautels GP 5 2-3-0 / 4.31 GAA / .882 SV %
Scott Patton GP 1 0-1-0 / 4.70 GAA / .815 SV %
Warriors Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 20-7-0-4 (0-0-0-1) Lead after 2nd: 21-1-0-3 (0-0-0-1)
Opposition Scores 1st: 9-14-0-4 (1-0-0-0) Tied after 2nd: 2-4-0-2
Lead after 1st: 16-5-0-3 Trail after 2nd: 6-16-0-3 (1-0-0-0)
Tied after 1st: 6-4-0-2 (1-0-0-1) More Shots: 16-10-0-6
Trail after 1st: 7-12-0-3 Outshot: 12-11-0-2 (1-0-0-1)
Shots Tied: 1-0-0-0
What to Watch For
Vees
- Carry Over: Can the Vees carry over momentum from Wednesday’s dramatic come from behind win? The Vees were down 2-0 to start the third and staring at a 2-0 series deficit, and then Matt Serratore and Demico Hannoun tied it, before Serratore scored the OT winner. No doubt an emotional win and you could feel the energy in the building when Serratore scored early in the first overtime period. Now, can the Vees parlay that into a game three win on the road? The Vees were 3-0-0 in West Kelowna this season, outscoring the Tribe 19-6. Their last two wins were by scores of 8-4 and 7-2 but the Warriors won six of their last seven home games to end the regular season, and picked up points in all seven; they outscored the opposition 31-17 in those seven games. Historically, the Vees have played well in West Kelowna and they get great road support from their traveling fans. They need to win at least one of the next two, as they don’t want to go down 3-1 heading back to Penticton for game five.
- Execution: Outside of the goaltending of West Kelowna’s Scott Patton, the biggest topic in Vees land is execution in the offensive end. They’ve fired 102 shots on the West Kelowna net in two games but have only scored six times in nine periods (three overtime periods). Now, at this stage of the season, the Vees being the best defensive team in the BCHL (115 goals-against in the regular season), should be able to win if they score three goals. However, the Warriors are a dangerously skilled team that can score at a moment’s notice. Right now the Vees biggest challenge comes within and that’s been their struggle to put their chances in behind Patton. Not to take anything away from the West Kelowna puck-stopper, but the Vees haven’t made it easy on themselves in the offensive end. They were guilty of letting West Kelowna linger around in game one and they were guilty of not cashing in on their chances in game two, and were 20-minutes away from going down two-rip in the series because of it. It’s hard to coach finish; well you can’t really coach a team how to score. Coaches can draw up plays, develop a system that can generate chances but the onus is on the players to put the puck in the net. One, the Vees need to get out ahead and two, they need to build upon that. They can’t just be satisfied with the lead; they need to find a way to pull away from the Warriors.
- More of that Third: In game two’s third period, that was the Vees team I expected to see in this series. They looked hungry, had that fire in their belly, they went to the net and got to those greasy areas and scored twice because of that. Their first goal was off a rebound, as Serratore drove the net after Mitch Newsome put a shot off the far-pad. Their second goal, all be it on the power-play, was Demico Hannoun driving the net and forcing a shot through Scott Patton on the short-side. This goes hand-in-hand with the previous topic but the Vees are going to need to consistently play right in front of the Warriors net; make like difficult for Patton. The Vees are at their best when they’re hanging on to pucks, cycling down low and funneling shots to the net. That’s how you’re going to score in the playoffs, as goals are going to come from the greasy areas and it’s going to come down to who wants it more.
Warriors
- Home Cooking: As mentioned, the Warriors won six of their last seven home games to close out the regular season, including their last two in must win situations. Their only blemish during that run was a surprising 8-7 overtime loss to Trail. Other than that, the Warriors have beat Nanaimo, Chilliwack and Vernon over that span; two of those three teams finished first in their respective divisions. It’s funny, the one kryptonite this year at home for West Kelowna has been Penticton, and for Penticton their kryptonite at home this year has been West Kelowna. The Vees were 3-0 in West Kelowna this season, and including the playoffs, the Warriors are 3-2-0-1 in Penticton this year. It has been anything but a homer series when talking about these two teams, as the road teams has had the distinct advantage but can the Tribe buck that trend tonight? The Warriors are expecting their largest crowd of the season and I’m sure the RLP will be rocking. Can they channel that energy into a game three win?
- General Patton: I ask before game two if Patton could repeat his game one performance and he went out and made 44-saves in an overtime loss. Can he repeat his game two performance at home? Like I just said, the Warriors are expecting a big crowd and will that bring some added pressure to the now starter for the Warriors? So far, Patton has looked very calm in the Warriors net, even when he’s in the heat of the moment, he’s kept his composure and that’s a big reason why the Warriors split the first two games. So far Patton has stopped 96 of 102 Vees shots, as he averaged 51-shots against in two games; a bit inflated with three overtime periods. If you take the shots he faced in regulation in the first two games, Patton on average has faced 41-shots. When teams are on the road, they can embrace that “us versus the world” mentality but now the Tribe are at home and does the goaltender feel any added pressure?
- Seizing Control: The Warriors are right where they want to be, despite the game two loss. I bet all 22-players and coaching staff would have taken a 1-1 series split after two games, if you polled them one week ago; heck they were fighting to just get the opportunity to face Penticton. Now the Warriors are back at home, as three of the next four games (if necessary) will be at Royal LePage Place. They’ll have a large and rocking crowd being them (minus the Vees supporters) and can they challenge that into a game three win? Sometimes teams get caught up in the moment and let their emotions get the better of them in these situations; that’s something they’ll be guarding against. In my series preview, I said composure would be key and so far, the Warriors have been straddling that line but haven’t got into too much penalty trouble. This year at home against Penticton, they’ve been guilty of letting their emotions get the better of them, especially in the last two games that were played at RLP in the seasonal series. Tonight they have an opportunity to get ahead in the series-again. Do they take it?
