Penticton, BC: James Miller scored three times to pace the Penticton Vees (9-5-2) to a 6-1 win over the Merritt Centennials (11-8-0) Friday night.
Miller opened the scoring 4:45 into the game with a slap shot from the mid point that beat Austin Roden on the glove side for his 6th of the season, tying his career high.
Just over a minute later, Jackson Niedermayer carried the puck down the left wing into the Merritt zone before throwing it on net. Roden made the save, but the rebound went to Ryan Sandelin who fired home his ninth of the year to make it 2-0.
Miller would add another before the period was up, firing a wrist shot past Roden with nine and a half minutes remaining in the frame. In three games against Merritt this season, the Vees have scored 10 first-oeriod goals.
After David Silye was denied on two shorthanded breakaways just moments apart, Eric Linell would find the back of the net after some excellent forechecking by Jack Barnes. Linell’s snapshot from the high slot beat a screened Roden for his ninth of the year.
After the Centennials ran into penalty trouble, Miller completed the hat trick just seven seconds into a 5-on-3 power play with a wrist shot from the slot nine minutes into the second.
The Vees then ran into penalty trouble of their own as Brendan Harrogate and Peter Muzyka were called for penalties at the same time. Just four seconds after the puck dropped, Miller was given a double minor for high sticking, putting the Vees shorthanded for six straight minutes.
Merritt would score just once during that span as Rylan Van Unen knocked in a loose puck after Jack LaFontaine made the initial save on a one timer from the right circle.
Linell added his second of the game in the third period, scoring on a wraparound after Harrogate was stopped on a partial break to make the final score 6-1. Shots read 33-32 Merritt through 60 minutes.
Penticton now heads home to welcome the West Kelowna Warriors Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre; Vees captain Massimo Rizzo is expected to make his season debut, while Kenny Johnson returns to the lineup after serving his three-game suspension.
