Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (17-5-1-2) won their seventh-straight game Saturday night against the Chilliwack Chiefs, and now host the West Kelowna Warriors (16-11-1-0) who are looking for a measure of revenge.
Adam Scheel had to make just 13 saves Saturday night to record his first career BCHL shutout in the 2-0 win over Chilliwack. Jared Nash opened the scoring a little over nine minutes into the game by sweeping a loose puck into the net after Lukas Sillinger drove hard to the goal.
Dakota Boutin rounded out the scoring on the power play in the second period after Nicky Leivermann’s shot missed the goal and bounced out the near side. It was Boutin’s 10th goal of the year.
The Warriors also had a pair of games last weekend; pounding the Merritt Centennials 7-2 Friday night before being doubled up by the Vernon Vipers 4-2 Saturday.
Their 33 points currently has them sitting in fifth place in the Interior Division while the Vees are third behind Vernon and Trail. However, Penticton has three games in hand on Trail and West Kelowna, and four games in hand on the Vipers.
Nearly two weeks ago the Vees were at Royal LePage Place to face off against the Warriors and exploded offensively, scoring 11 goals on 53 shots. The outburst was led by Leivermann and Boutin who both recorded hat tricks in the game while Owen Sillinger and Ben Allen both scored twice.
Despite the lopsided score, Scheel was still busy in the Vees crease as he finished with 39 saves for the win. Starting the game in net for the Warriors was Cody Porter, and it turned out to be his last game in a Warriors uniform as he was traded to the Maritime Hockey League.
Penticton has won two of the first three meetings with their Highway 97 rivals this year; September 29, the Vees home opener, Penticton won a hard-fought 2-1 game before dropping a 4-3 decision on the road November 3.
The two teams will meet again twice before the Christmas break to wrap up their season series.
Team Statistics
Leading scorers
Penticton Vees
Owen Sillinger – 11 G 17 A 25 GP
Nicky Leivermann – 7 G 15 A 24 GP
Jonny Tychonick – 5 G 17 A 23 GP
West Kelowna Warriors
Jared Marino – 10 G 13 A 28 GP
Chase Dubois – 9 G 14 A 26 GP
Michael Ryan – 3 G 19 A 28 GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 22.5% (1st in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 88.8% (1st in BCHL)
West Kelowna Warriors
Power play – 19.0% (10th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 86.4% (4th in BCHL)
Season Series
September 29, 2017 – Vees 2 vs Warriors 1 Boxscore
November 3, 2017 – Vees 3 @ Warriors 4 Boxscore
November 22, 2017 – Vees 11 @ Warriors 3 Boxscore
November 29, 2017 – Vees vs Warriors
December 8, 2017 – Vees vs Warriors
December 15, 2017 – Vees @ Warriors
