Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (29-9-2-3) played three games in three days for the first time last weekend, notching wins over Prince George, Merritt and Trail. They’ll try and replicate that success this weekend beginning Friday against the Powell River Kings (23-14-4-4).
Saturday the Vees had their largest crowd of the season as 4,342 fans packed the South Okanagan Events Centre for Pink in the Rink night against the Trail Smoke Eaters. After a late tying goal by Trail, the game went to overtime and the Vees received their seventh power play of the game just 25 seconds in.
Jonny Tychonick wired home the game winner on a one timer from the slot to push the Vees record to 7-0-0-1 in January, also locking up the BCHL’s player of the week nod for his seven-point weekend. The win also gave the Vees sole possession of first place in the overall BCHL standings.
The Kings are no strangers to three-game weekends as they have eight of them over the course of the 2017-18 season. One of them took place last weekend which saw them win 4-3 over Langley on a last-second goal, 3-2 in double overtime in Merritt before dropping a 4-2 game in Prince George.
A 5-4-1-1 record since the Christmas break has helped the Kings stay in the hunt for top spot in the Island Division. They currently find themselves tied for first with Victoria with 54 points, but have one game in hand.
Penticton hosted Powell River at the SOEC November 4, a 4-2 Kings win. It was the first time Powell River had ever won at the SOEC since it opened in 2008, and the first win in Penticton for the Kings franchise since 2004.
That night, Tychonick opened the scoring for the Vees before the Kings rattled off four-straight goals to take a 4-1 lead late in the third period. Jackson Keane got one goal back, but that was all the Vees could muster in the defeat. Kings goalie Mitch Adamyk was named the games first star with his 35 save performance.
The Vees success against Powell River wasn’t limited to home ice; the last time Penticton lost in Powell River was November 20, 2009. That includes two games during the 2012 Fred Page Cup final.
Team Statistics
Leading Scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 22 G 20 A 41 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 8 G 26 A 35 GP
Dakota Boutin – 16 G 16 A 42 GP
Powell River Kings
Ben Berard – 21 G 34 A 45 GP
Jonny Evans – 16 G 29 A 37 GP
Carter Turnbull – 22 G 18 A 38 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 19.8% (5th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 86.8% (1st in BCHL)
Powell River Kings
Power play – 19.7% (6th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 79.4% (14th in BCHL)
Season Series
November 4, 2017 – Vees 2 vs Kings 4 Boxscore
January 26, 2018 – Vees @ Kings
