Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees had a tough time getting things rolling Wednesday night and the Cowichan Valley Capitals continued to play their game, shutting out the Vees 3-0 in game four of the Interior Division quarterfinals. The Vees now find their season on the line Saturday night at home.
A great opening seven minutes saw the Vees outshooting the Capitals 7-2, but it was Cowichan who opened the scoring. After a rink-wide pass jumped over James Miller’s stick, Paul Selleck came in on a breakaway.
Selleck faked the shot before going to his backhand, getting Jack LaFontaine to open up the five hole and giving the Capitals the 1-0 lead against the flow of play.
The first period ended with the Vees down 1-0 but outshooting the Capitals 13-10.
Penticton had two power plays in the second period but couldn’t generate chances on net and would finish the period with just six shots on goal.
Things went from bad to worse when the Capitals extended their lead. After Lukas Sillinger was robbed on a bang-bang play in the slot, the puck slid out to centre in front of the Vees bench.
Bodies collided and somehow the puck made its way through everyone, allowing the Capitals to come in on a 2-on-0 rush. Preston Brodziak and Vincent Millette played give-and-go and Brodziak made it 2-0 Capitals with four minutes to play in the second.
While the Vees outshot Cowichan 8-4 in the third period, the majority of the chances weren’t high quality and Pierce Diamond was able to make saves without secondary chances.
Jonathan Smart had a chance to break the shutout bid after taking a rink-wide pass in the Capitals zone, but couldn’t corral the puck in time with the open net and put the shot wide with Diamond down and out.
With LaFontaine on the bench for the extra attacker, Millette was able to slide the puck into the open goal to seal the 3-0 score.
Wednesday was the first time all season the Vees have been shutout, and now find themselves in a must-win situation Saturday night for game five at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Puck drop is 6:00.
