Arena: Royal LePage Place, West Kelowna
Game Time: 7pm
Radio: EZ Rock AM 800
Watch: Fasthockey Pay-Per-View
It’s a first place showdown tonight at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna, as the Penticton Vees (32-15-2-4) travel up highway 97 to visit the West Kelowna Warriors (31-14-3-5). Both teams come into tonight’s contest tied on points at the top of the Interior Division, with the Vees owning the tie-breaker by having one more win.
Vees Head Coach Fred Harbinson told the Penticton Herald they’ll need to have everyone chipping in tonight, “We’re going to need contributions from everyone to get out of there with a win.”
This is the seventh and final meeting between these two teams this season, as the two Valley rivals have split the first six matchups; the Warriors winning the last three encounters.
The Vees are looking to put a tough week behind them, which saw them drop two home games last weekend, to Vernon and Victoria. The Vipers bettered the Vees 2-1 on Friday and the Grizzlies took a 3-1 decision on Saturday. Goal scoring once again has fallen under the microscope, as they Vees have only scored five goals in their last three games.
Harbinson says the struggles don’t stem from a lack of effort from his club, “We’ve continued to play strong defense, our goaltending has been tremendous, but for whatever reason, we’re having trouble getting the puck across the line.”
The Vees last met West Kelowna in a home and home series just before the Christmas break and had troubles putting the biscuit in the basket, so to speak, losing 3-1 and 4-0 on December 20th and 21st. Since then, it’s been a see-saw couple of months for Penticton, who’ve strung together a modest 5-5-0-1 record, in the 11 games since playing West Kelowna; the Warriors have gone 7-2-1-3.
Travis Blanleil will be a game-time decision after taking an ugly knee-on-knee collision Saturday against Victoria. If Blanleil is unable to get back into the line-up, Josh Blanchard is the likely candidate to fill his spot.
Olivier Mantha gets the start between the pipes for the Vees, and is seeking his first win since January 24th, but hasn’t got much run support in his last two starts; the Vees have scored just twice in his last two starts. Mantha is 15-8-0 on the year, with a 2.18 goals-against average, while maintaining a .915 save percentage.
The Warriors have cooled off somewhat after rattling off a 12-game unbeaten run through January and early February; the Tribe are 2-1-0-2 in their last five games. West Kelowna has also dropped their last two, an 8-5 decision to Victoria on Friday, followed by a 3-2 overtime setback in Vernon on Saturday.
The Vees finish the week with a home game Friday against Trail, followed by a visit to Vernon on Saturday. The Warriors travel to Merritt Friday before returning home the following night to face Trail.
