Photo: Cherie Morgan
PENTICTON, B.C. – For the second consecutive night, the Penticton Vees shutout the Prince George Spruce Kings, as they won 3-0 in Game Two at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC) on Saturday.
The Vees lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, as now head north to Prince George for Games Three and Four, starting on Tuesday.
It was the second straight night the Vees posted a 3-0 win over the Spruce Kings. Penticton’s Andrew Ness made 13 saves for his first playoff shutout in his first playoff start. Ness was the third star Saturday. Ness did have a little help from his posts, as the Spruce Kings struck iron twice.
“Any time you can get back-to-back shutouts in playoff games, it shows you the commitment this group has to team defence and playing the right way,” began Vees’ Director of Hockey Operations, Matt Miller. “We have done a great job of possessing the puck and wearing the opposition down in these last two games.”
Brothers Connor and Ryan MacPherson combined for four points in the win. Connor scored a pair of goals that were both set up by Ryan. For Connor, his two goals were his first in six games. Ryan snapped a six-game pointless streak up with his two assists.
“The brothers were telling us all week that the playoff MacPherson’s were coming, so we were excited to see that. These two are great kids, they worked hard at their game all season long, and they’re now showing their playoff mentality,” said Miller.
Prior to joining the Vees, the MacPherson brothers won a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League championship with the Leamington Flyers last spring. That experience was evident on Saturday.
Connor could have had more than just two goals as he hit two posts. He rang a shot off the cross bar in the first period, then struck the post on a backhand deke in the second.
Penticton dominated the shot clock on Saturday, outshooting the Spruce Kings 45-13. The Vees had 15 shots in each of the three periods. Prince George had just four, five, and four shots in each of three periods respectively.
After a scoreless first period, Connor MacPherson put the Vees up 1-0 three minutes into the second. Lucas Sorace grabbed the puck at centre, swung it across to Ryan MacPherson, who raced down the wing, before firing the puck over to his brother at the far post for the backdoor tap in.
The Vees’ power play scored a crucial insurance goal seven and a half minutes into the third period. Simon Meier doubled Penticton’s lead as he jammed in his own rebound, banging the puck through Spruce Kings’ goaltender Charlie Zolin’s pads. Meier’s first career playoff goal made it 2-0.
The MacPherson twins finished off the scoring, as they connected on another odd-man rush. Once again, Ryan was the setup man as he showed great patience holding onto the puck just long enough to put his pass around the sprawled defender and over to his brother, who banged it into the net at 11:42. Connor’s second put Penticton up 3-0.
GAME NOTES
Forward James Fisher returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension in Game One. Including the regular season, the Vees have now posted four consecutive shutouts at the SOEC against Prince George this season. The shutout streak sits at 254 minutes and 12 seconds.
GAME STATS
Shots: 45-13, Vees
Vees Scoring: Connor MacPherson (1,2), Simon Meier (1)
Vees Goaltending: Andrew Ness (W) 60:00 13/13
Power-Plays
Vees: 1/4
Spruce Kings: 0/1
Attendance: 2,674
Next Game: The Vees travel north to face the Spruce Kings in Game Three of their series on Tuesday, April 9th, at Kopar Memorial Arena; face-off is 7:00 pm. Fans can listen to the game on Bounce 800 AM, or watch on Flo Hockey TV.
