Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (6-4-1) dropped a 3-2 shootout to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks last night with 10 forwards and five defenceman in the lineup. Tonight they get Mason Snell back from suspension and look to bounce back against the Cowichan Valley Capitals (2-8-2).
Ryan Sandelin gave the Vees an early lead Friday night, scoring just 17 seconds after the puck had dropped. He was in the right spot to backhand a rebound past Ethan Langenegger for his seventh of the season.
The lead was short lived as Kenny Johnson was called for a blow to the head minor penalty, which comes with an automatic 10-minute misconduct. While it would be the only minor penalty the Vees were called for on the night, it proved costly.
Matthew Verboon found a loose puck in the slot and fired home his sixth of the season three minutes after Sandelin had given the Vees the lead to even the score. The shots were 14-10 Penticton after 20 minutes.
The middle frame is where the Vees found life, and eventually regained their lead. Jack Lagerstrom leaned into a slap shot on a loose puck in the right wing circle, firing it into the top corner for his first career BCHL goal nearly eight minutes into the period.
Aside from a late stretch by Salmon Arm, the Vees completely dominated the middle period outshooting the Silverbacks 16-5 and took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Salmon Arm rebounded in the third and tied the game early. While on the forecheck, Noah Wakeford stole the puck behind the Vees net and centred for Nick Unruh who scored his first of the year to even the game.
Three-on-three overtime solved nothing as the two teams went to a shootout which saw the first four shooters score. After Sandelin was stopped by Langenegger, Akito Hirose won the game for the Silverbacks beating Jack LaFontaine over the glove.
Cowichan was also on the road last night, dropping a 6-4 game in Trail. The Capitals lead 3-2 heading into the third, but Trail scored three goals in 3:51 to take the lead on their way to the win.
The Vees recorded their first win of the season against Cowichan September 14, a 4-2 victory. Drew Elser recorded two goals while Sandelin and David Silye also scored in the win. The Vees have won their last eight head to head meetings with Cowichan.
Team Statistics
Leading Scorers
Penticton Vees
David Silye – 5G 15A 11GP
Eric Linell – 5G 8A 13GP
James Miller – 4G 7A 11GP
Cowichan Valley Capitals
David Melaragni – 2G 6A 12GP
Vincent Milette – 2G 6A 12GP
Dimitri Mikrogiannakis – 2G 5A 10GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power play – 16.9 per cent (12th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 83.3 per cent (8th in BCHL)
Cowichan Valley Capitals
Power play – 17.0 per cent (11th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 83.8 per cent (7th in BCHL)
Season Series
September 14, 2018 – Vees 4 @ Capitals 2 Boxscore
October 13, 2018 – Vees vs Capitals
