Nicholas Jones has impeccable timing. The Penticton Vees’ Captain scored with less than a second left in double-overtime, as the Vees edged the Trail Smoke Eaters 3-2, in their London Drugs Home Opener on Saturday night.
Jones fired a one-timer over the blocker of Zach Dyment and into the top corner with less than a half-second on the game clock, sending over three thousand Vees fans into a frenzy.
The drama wasn’t just in overtime, as Penticton was trailing 2-1 late in the third period, after Trail scored a go-ahead goal on the power-play. Grant Cruikshank mustered up some heroics of his own, when he tied the game from behind the net with 94-seconds left, to set the stage for Jones’ OT moment.
Jonny Tychonick scored his first career BCHL goal to open the scoring way back in the first period. Tychonick, the trailer on a three-on-two rush, tracked his own rebound to the top of the Trail crease, and spun and fired into an open net at 14:24.
That score held up until the midway mark of the second period, when Ryan Moon tied it up for the Smoke Eaters. It was a Trail two-on-one rush that resulted in Moon getting his own pass attempt bounce right back to him, before he went five-hole on Mat Robson at 9:47.
In the third, emotions came to a boil early when Jared Nash and Trail’s Ethan Martini chucked knuckles. Nash may have surprised Martini, as the Vees’ forward took him down with a flurry of left-handed blows.
Trail went ahead late in the third on that power-play goal by with less than five-minutes left. Ryan Warner sizzled a one-timer from the right-wing past a lunging Robson at 15:19, to hush a capacity crowd.
However, the Vees dug in their heels and fashioned together a late comeback with under two-minutes left. With the Vees pressuring around the net, Cruikshank found the puck just below the post on the glove-side, and put the puck off the backside of Zach Dyment and into the net at 18:26.
It was a wide-open overtime frame, with the Vees dominating the shot-clock. Penticton peppered the Trail net with 13 shots in the two overtime periods, including 11 in double-overtime alone.
Taylor Ward had several good looks but Dyment turned him away time and again. Ward thought he had the game-winner but his diving, one-handed effort was stopped at the post by the defenceman’s skate. Cruikshank and Owen Sillinger also had point-blank opportunities that were turned aside.
All that pressure finally paid off with Jones’ last-gasp effort in the dying moments.
FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Vees
Shots: 46-26 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 0-3 Trail 1-3
Three Stars: 1) Nicholas Jones 2) Jonny Tychonick 3) Zach Dyment
Attendance: 3,037
Penticton (7-1-0-0) has six days off before they face the Merritt Centennials (4-2-1-0) at the SOEC on Friday, October 7th; puck drop is 7 pm. Fans can get their tickets at the Valley First box office, or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com
