Warriors win, Vipers settle for 3-3 tie with Salmon Arm
The “Zach Attack” proved to be too much for the Penticton Vees.
Zach Risteau scored two power play goals and Zach Court also clicked as the Merritt Centennials held on to beat the Vees 3-2 on Friday at the Nicola Valley Arena.
Tyler Ward, in his third game back from a broken wrist, collected three assists as Merritt beat the Vees for the first time in six meetings this season.
Jacob Berger made 33 saves for the win, losing his shutout bid with 4:09 to go when Owen Sillinger netted his 14th of the season. Taylor Sanheim scored the second Vees goal with 33.5 seconds left.
It was a tough night for veteran goalie Mat Robson, who got the hook at 1:14 of the third period after surrendering three goals on 24 shots. Nolan Hildebrand came on to make 11 stops.
It was a big win for the Cents (15-17-72) as they jockey for playoff position, while the Vees (30-9-1) lost for the third time in four games and saw their lead dwindle to 11 points over the second-place Vernon Vipers atop the Interior Division.
Court – one of five Zachs on the Centennials roster opened the scoring with 1:17 left in the first period.
Risteau made it 2-0 with 3:36 left in the second, then forward Duncan Campbell took a double-minor with 1:30 left in the second to put the Vees in further trouble.
The Vees nearly killed it off the four minutes but Risteau connected with 15 seconds left just 1:14 into the third period to end Robson’s evening of work.
Sillinger gave the Vees some late life as he scored on a rebound from Joe Leahy and Jared Nash. The Vees got Hildebrand to the bench for an extra attacker and Sanheim made it interesting by scoring at 19:26 from Turner Ripplinger and Campbell. Ward, Risteau and Berger were the three stars. The Vees will look to right the ship as they take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the annual “Feed the Valley Night” game tonight at 6 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Warriors 5 Eagles 2: Gabriel Morency made 24 saves in his debut — including stopping Dario Piva on a penalty shot late in the first period — as West Kelowna beat Surrey at Royal LePage Place.
Braiden Epp, Connor Sodergren, Stephen Kleysen, Chase Dubois and Quin Foreman into an empty net scored for the Warriors (21-18-1), who led 3-0 and 4-1 at the period breaks.
Nick Fea and Paul McAvoy scored for the struggling Eagles (14-25-3). Daniel Davidson made 25 saves. Epp, Dubois and McAvoy were the three stars. The Warriors host Cowichan Valley Capitals Sunday at 2 p.m.
Vipers 3 Silverbacks 3: Jagger Williamson scored two goals in a span of 1:29 in the third period as Vernon rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie Salmon Arm at Kal Tire Place.
Austin Adamson also scored for the Vipers (22-13-3-3), who are unbeaten in their last nine games (6 wins, 3 ties).
Justin Wilson and Josh Latta, with his second of the night, had scored in a 10-second span for the Silverbacks (1621-2-2) earlier in the third to break the tie.
Darion Hanson of Vernon and Nic Tallarico of Salmon Arm each made 38 saves. Latta, Williamson and Wilson were the three stars. The Vipers take on Merritt tonight at 7 p.m. at Kal Tire Place.