Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (6-0-0-0) and Vernon Vipers (7-2-0-1) clash for the second time in less than 24 hours tonight at Kal Tire Place in Vernon at 6:00 p.m. Last night, Jackson Keane’s power-play goal 8:22 into the third period stood up as the winner in the 3-2 Vees victory at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
In yesterday’s win, the Vees penalty kill came up big killing six of seven Vipers chances, while Adam Scheel stood tall in net making 29 saves to stay perfect on the season, improving to 4-0. Jack Barnes scored his first career BCHL goal in the first, before Jimmy Lambert found the back of the net to tie the game after one period.
Cassidy Bowes gave the Vees the lead through 40 minutes after he redirected a wrist shot from the right point by Luke Reid past Anthony Yamnitsky for his second of the season. In the third period, Nico Karamanis scored on a shorthanded breakaway to tie the game, before the Vees answered quickly.
On the same power play, Keane threw the puck on goal before following it to the net. His original shot was blocked, but Keane stuck with the play and was eventually able to swat the puck past the blocker side of Yamnitsky for his first BCHL goal, giving the Vees a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The game didn’t finish without some drama at the buzzer, however. Tanner Wishnowski threw the puck at Scheel from below the goal line, and it hit the goalies glove and went into the net. The horn sounded just moments before, so the officials came together and had to decide if the puck had crossed the line before time had expired.
After a few minute discussion, the officials agreed the puck didn’t cross the line before the clock hit zero and the Vees officially won the game 3-2, remaining perfect on the season. Last year, the Vees had a 2-1 record during the regular season at Kal Tire Place, before going 1-2 there during the Interior Division Final.
Tonight’s broadcast can be heard on EZ Rock AM 800, online by clicking on this sentence, or watched live on www.hockeytv.com with Craig Beauchemin and Scott Austin.
Team stats
Leading scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 4 G 2 A 6 GP
Cassidy Bowes – 2 G 4 A 6 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 1 G 5 A 5 GP
Vernon Vipers
Brett Stapley – 6 G 7 A 10 GP
Jimmy Lambert – 5 G 8 A 9 GP
Jack Judson – 4 G 3 A 10 GP
Special Team
Power play
Penticton Vees
20.0% 10th in BCHL)
Vernon Vipers
25.5% (2nd in BCHL)
Penalty Kill
Penticton Vees
87.9% (4th in BCHL)
Vernon Vipers
84.2% (6th in BCHL)
Season Series
October 6 – Vees 3 Vipers 2 Boxscore
