The Penticton Vees are one win away from their fifth consecutive Interior Division Final. A win tonight in Game Five at home and the Vees eliminate the Vernon Vipers in the first round of the BCHL Fred Page Cup Playoffs.
The Vees lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 after a convincing 6-2 win in Game Four in Vernon on Wednesday night. It was the penalty-kill that did most of the damage, as Nic Jones and Owen Sillinger combined to score three short-handed goals in the victory.
Jones and Sillinger scored back-to-back short-handed goals roughly two-minutes apart in the first period, as the Vees led 3-0 after 20-minutes. Jones scored a second short-handed marker in the second and Easton Brodzinski, Scott Conway and Tyson Jost also scored for the Vees.
Zach Driscoll improved to 2-0 in the series, stopping 17 of 19 shots and is undefeated against Vernon in four games this season dating back to the regular season.
Penticton has a chance to eliminate the Vipers on home ice for the second consecutive season, after that dramatic Game Seven win in the Interior Final last March.
In saying that, Head Coach Fred Harbinson told the Penticton Herald it’s far from over, “That’s a good hockey team over there and we’re not underestimating them for a second. We’re not looking beyond the first few shifts of the game. We know how we have to manage a game to be successful.”
Conway loves playing the Snakes, as the Vees’ forward now has 16 goals in 10 games against Vernon this year, if you include the regular season. Conway scored 11 goals in six regular season games and now has five in four games in this first round series. Conway has been terrific but so too has Jones.
The 19-year-old Alberta native has a team best eight points in four games and is second in the BCHL post-season scoring race heading into tonight’s action. Jones is followed by Conway (5-2-7) and Jost (3-3-6) to round out the top three in team scoring. Dante Fabbro is the top scoring defenceman on the Vees with four assists in as many games, including his two assist effort in Game Four.
Penticton has been very good at home, as they sported a 27-1-1-0 home record and are 37-17 all-time at the SOEC in the post-season; they’ve won six straight at home against Vernon dating back to the 2015 playoffs.
Driscoll will get the start tonight for the Vees and as mentioned, is a perfect 2-0 in this series with a .907 save percentage, and was 2-0 against the Vipers in the regular season. Gabe Bast will be out of the line-up tonight but Colton Poolman may dress tonight; he’ll be a game time decision.
Anthony Brodeur won’t dress again tonight due to a lower-body injury and the Vees have called up AP goaltender Stephen Heslop from the Osoyoos Coyotes to back-up Driscoll. Heslop had spent time in the BCHL with the West Kelowna Warriors over the past two seasons.
Gabe Bast will likely miss tonight’s game but Colton Poolman is a game-time decision, as he’s being making steady progress returning from injury. The Vees will make their final scratches after warm-up.
Bo Pellah leads the Vipers in scoring with five assists in four games and is one of five 20-year-olds who are trying to extend their junior hockey careers tonight. Another over-ager is Andrew Shortridge and the Vernon goalie has been pelted with rubber in this series. Through four games he’s faced 172 shots for an average of 43 shots against per-game.
