Vees back in win column
Penticton blanks visiting Alberni Valley in blowout
The Penticton Vees delivered the complete 60-minute effort their GM and head coach has been searching for in recent weeks.
Captain Nicholas Jones scored twice and Mat Robson made 24 saves for the shutout as the Vees blanked the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 6-0 in front of 3,039 fans on Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
“We had great energy right from the start,” said Fred Harbinson. “We’ve been trying to find the right (line) combinations up front and tonight everything seemed to mesh together.”
Matt Gosiewski scored the first-ever goal awarded by the new video review system at the SOEC, Taylor Sanheim, Joe Leahy and Mitch Meek also connected and Grant Cruikshank added three assists as the Vees (31-9-1) bounced back from a 3-2 defeat in Merritt on Friday.
Penticton had lost three of its last four contests.
“It’s been a bit of a process getting our guys to understand what kind of a team we are,” said Harbinson. “We can’t be doing all this fancy stuff . . . we’ve got to be blue-collar in the offensive zone, getting lots of pucks and bodies to the net. Tonight we were able to do that.”
The Vees scored twice in each period and Gosiewski’s goal at 6:23 of the first proved to be the winner — after review showed it clearly went in under the crossbar.
“It’s good to be able to get it right,” said Harbinson, noting there is a paid official in the press booth that reviews the video (on disputed goals only).
Harbinson said he was pleased to see the veteran Robson post the shutout after getting the hook early in the third period in the loss to Merritt.
“We challenged some of our veteran guys to step it up after Friday’s game,” said Harbinson. “All of those guys came out and had great games tonight. We’ve got 17 games left before the playoffs and we need to get firing on all cylinders.”
Carson Schamerhorn allowed four goals on 28 shots for Alberni (13-21-5-2) before Brody Claes came on after the fourth Vees goal by Leahy at 15:14 of the second period and stopped 11 of 13 shots.
Sanheim, Jones and Robson were the three stars on the annual Valley First “Feed the Valley” night at the SOEC in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank.
Alberni closes out a tough weekend road trip today at 2 p.m. in Merritt, while the Vees get a week off before hosting the West Kelowna Warriors next Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Warriors were idle Saturday and welcome the Cowichan Valley Capitals to Royal LePage Place today at 2:30 p.m.
Centennials 2 Vipers 1: Tyler Ward scored at 3:11 of the second overtime period as Merritt stunned Vernon at Kal Tire Place.
Vipers’ Niko Karamanis and Cents’ Cade Gleeckel traded second-period goals before Ward emerged the hero in the 3-on-3 extra session.
Jacob Berger made 43 stops for Merritt and Ty Taylor blocked 36 shots for the Vipers.
The Vipers (22-13-4-3) are now unbeaten in regulation in 10 games, but slipped 12 points behind the first-place Vees in the Interior Division. Merritt is in fifth place at 16-17-7-2. ICE CHIPS: Vees D James Miller (upper-body) missed his second straight game and Harbinson said he expects he’ll be out at least one more week . . . . With rearguards Gabe Bast and Greg Brydon also unavailable, the Vees dressed 13 forwards and five defencemen, with F Turner Ripplinger capable of playing on the blueline.