FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Saturday, January 7th
VEES TAME GORILLAS; WIN STREAK HITS 21
SALMON ARM, BC- Bryce Gervais made good on his return to Salmon Arm, scoring once and adding an assist in Penticton’s 6-1 win over the Silverbacks, at the Shaw Communications Centre on Saturday night.
The win is the Vees twenty-first in a row and fourteenth straight on the road.
Curtis Loik opened the scoring after some hard work deep in the Silverbacks zone. The line of Loik, Ryan Reilly and Logan Johnston were terrific cycling the puck one night ago but weren’t rewarded.
Tonight Loik got the line some well-deserved recognition with his back-hand that slid through the legs of Kurt Williams just two minutes and fifty-one seconds into the first period.
Connor Reilly was credited with the Vees second goal of the period, just shy of the ten minute mark. On the Vees first power-play, Connor positioned himself between the circles in the high slot and took a pass from his brother Mike and rifled a slap-shot that careened off a defenders stick and past Williams. The goal was his 28th and doubled Penticton’s lead at 9:12.
An unlikely named appeared on the score sheet before the period was out; Kyle Beaulieu wired a slap-shot from the point late in the period to give the Vees a 3-0 after twenty minutes. The goal was just Beaulieu’s second of the season and first since October 1st versus Trail.
In the second period, Bryce Gervais marked his return to Salmon Arm by the only way he knows how- scoring. On the power-play, Gervais beat Williams with a nice wrist shot from between the circles at 6:27. Gervais made a couple of quick moves to get into the slot from the right-wing
Not to be out done, his linemate, Joey Benik, scored on an almost identical play. Benik came off the right half-wall and stickhandled into the mid slot and snapped a shot underneath Williams’s glove at 11:49.
Both teams would exchange goals in the third period to close out the scoring.
First, Connor found his second of the game, again on the power-play, after his Brother Mike’s point shot deflected off his arm and in. The unconventional tally just shy of the two minute mark was his 29th of the season and his team leading 14th power-play goal.
Salmon Arm would spoil Mike Garteig’s shutout bid quickly after the Reilly power-play goal. Mark Barden put a quick shot through Garteig’s legs from in front of the Vees goal after a pass from the corner off the stick of Alex Gillies.
That was as close as the Silverbacks would get on Saturday.
Final Score: 6-1 Vees
Shots: Vees 36 Silverback 30
Power-Play: Vees 3/5 Silverbacks 0/7
Three Stars: 1) Bryce Gervais 2) Mike Garteig 3) Mark Barden
The win nudges up the Vees record to 33-3-0-2 and their road record jumps to
18-3-0-1.
Penticton’s next game is the 13th of January when the Langley Rivermen make their first and only visit to the SOEC this season; game time is 7pm and tickets can be purchased at the SOEC box office, or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com
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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.
CONTACT: FRASER RODGERS
Director of Broadcasting, Media Relations
Penticton Vees Hockey Club
FraserRodgers@gmail.com(250) 809-1390
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