Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (20-9-2-1) saw a 2-0 lead evaporate in the third period against the Wenatchee Wild (20-10-2-0) Friday night, dropping a 5-2 game at Town Toyota Centre.
Despite being outshot 10-5 in the opening 20 minutes, the Vees held a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard. Carson Kosobud took a shot from the right circle that was deflected in front of the net. Austin Park made the save, but Cole Shepard jumped on the rebound to make it 1-0 Vees with 5:46 left in the period.
Just 1:19 later, Kosobud was involved in a nice passing play by the Vees. Kosobud gained the Wenatchee line on the left wing before stopping up and sending a saucer pass to Luke Loheit.
Loheit took the feed at the bottom of the left circle and quickly backhanded it to the front of the net for Jack Barnes who chipped it over the glove of Park to give the Vees a 2-0 lead.
The goal ended the night for Park who gave up two goals on four shots, sending Cal Sandquist into the Wenatchee crease.
The 2-0 lead remained for the Vees after the second period in which Penticton outshot Wenatchee 9-3. The Wild came close to a late goal as Nathan Iannone hit the post with 25 seconds left.
The Vees had a chance to extend their lead in the opening minutes of the third as Wenatchee was called for interference just 31 seconds into the period, but they couldn’t take advantage and would end the night 0/5 on the man advantage.
The Vees held the 2-0 lead over the first half of the third period before the Wild offence came to life. First it was Christophe Tellier taking a centring feed near the right circle and beating Derek Krall through the five hole and he tried to stretch over to his left to make the save. The goal came with 9:08 remaining.
Less than four minutes later, Iannone defected a wrist shot from the blue line past the blocker side of Krall to tie the game.
Matt Dorsey then gave Wenatchee the lead just 43 seconds after the goal, going end to end before cutting to the front of the net and sliding the puck past Krall to make it 3-2.
The Wild would then add two empty netters, though the first one was offside, to make the final score 5-2.
The Vees don’t have much time to stew over the loss as they host the Wild at the South Okanagan Events Centre Saturday at 6:00. It’s the annual teddy bear toss game for the Vees, after Penticton’s first goal fans are encouraged to throw stuffed animals or warm articles of clothing onto the ice which will be gather by the Salvation Army and distributed to families in need in the South Okanagan.
