FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, March 6th
VEES SET NORTH AMERICAN CONSECUTIVE WINS RECORD
PENTICTON, BC- Three Penticton Vees each scored twice and Chad Katunar made 18 saves for his first career BCHL shutout, as the Vees blitzed the Trail Smoke Eaters 10-0 on Tuesday night.
The win is the Vees forty-first in a row, setting a new record in both Canada and the United States for the longest winning streak. Also the victory was the Vees fifty-third, setting a new BCHL mark for most wins in a regular season.
Ryan Reilly got the ball rolling, scoring the only goal of the first period, just past the five minute mark. Reilly broke down the right-wing and tucked the puck around the outstretched blocker of Lyndon Stanwood.
In the second frame, the Vees scored three goals on fourteen shots, in three different ways. Mike Reilly started the scoring, with a short-handed tally at one fifty-two; sneaking a wrist-shot past the pad of Stanwood. Steven Fogarty scored his first of two just before the sixteen minute mark at fifteen forty-five, poking in the puck at the side of the Trail net. Travis St. Denis capped off the scoring with a power-play goal from the right-circle at seventeen-ten.
The third period saw the Vees offense explode for six goals, including four in fewer than seven minutes. Mario Lucia kicked things off with two goals in just one minute and thirty-five seconds; the first coming fifty-six seconds in the final period. Ryan Reilly and Steven Fogarty scored sixteen seconds apart, each getting their second goal of the game and thirty-second on the season.
Bryce Gervais made it nine, on another Vees power-play, whacking the puck past a down and out James D’Andrea at ten fifty-four; his forty-first, putting him in the out-right lead in BCHL goal scoring. Joey Benik capped off an impressive night, scoring on a partial breakaway at nineteen twenty-one. Benik already had four assists, before sliding in his twenty-ninetieth of the season and his fifth point of the game; tying him on points at ninety-four a top of the BCHL.
FINAL SCORE: 10-0 Vees
Shots: 30-18 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 2/4 Smoke Eaters 0/8
Three Stars 1) Joey Benik 2) Steven Fogarty 3) Ryan Reilly
Attendance: 3,655
Hardest Working Vee: Ryan Reilly
Valley First Charitable Donation Grand Total: 1, 950
Penticton finishes their home portion of the regular season with a record of 29-0-0-1; picking up fifty-nine of a possible sixty points. The win also ties a twenty-two year-old BCHL record for most points in a single-season at 108; the Vees just need one point out of their last two games to set a new mark.
The Vees conclude their regular seasons schedule up north, when they travel to Prince George to face the Spruce Kings in a weekend double-header starting Friday.
The pre-game show on EZ Rock AM 800 starts twenty minutes prior to puck drop; you can also tune in on MyEZRock.com, and at BCHL.ca where both the audio stream and Pay-Per-View video are available.
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