Penticton Vees head to Merritt tonight with two game lead
While the Penticton Vees relish playing in front of their hometown fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre, they’re not the least bit intimidated about playing on the road in the cramped confines of the Nicola Valley Arena.
After back-to-back 4-1 home-ice wins, the Vees take a 2-0 lead over the Merritt Centennials in the best-of-seven Interior Division semifinal series into Merritt’s barn for Games 3 and 4 tonight and Tuesday — both 7 p.m. puck-drops.
“Obviously they’ll get some energy playing at home where they’ve had a lot of success,” said Vees GM/head coach Fred Harbinson. “But we’ve been real good on the road most of the season and we’re comfortable going into their building. We’ve had some success there.”
The Vees won three of four games played this season in Merritt — 4-3 in overtime Oct. 8, 4-2 on Oct. 21 and 4-2 on Feb. 1. The Cents prevailed 3-2 on Jan. 13.
The Vees have been in command through the first two games, scoring early in each and never trailing. Penticton has had a lead for all but four minutes eight seconds of the 120 minutes.
“We’ve blocked a lot of shots and really limited their Grade-A chances, especially in the second game,” said Harbinson.
Offence from the defence, secondary scoring, terrific play in all three zones and stellar netminding — the Vees have it all so far in the series.
In Game 1, the Vees got three goals and two assists from their defence. Gabe Bast got two goals in the opener and added an assist in Game 2. James Miller and Jonny Tychonick got primary assists in Game 1.
“It’s really only the fourth or fifth time we’ve had our top-six defencemen together all season,” said Harbinson. “They’ve got a lot of skill and they really feed off each other. We’ve got a lot of depth on the blue line, and as we found out last season, you need that in the post-season.”
On Saturday, the Vees got two goals and four scoring points from their checking line of Jamie Armstrong, Matt Gosiewski and Taylor Ward.
The top line has been involved too, with captain Nick Jones tallying a goal and two assists and Duncan Campbell and Chris Klack each registering two points.
After giving up 27 shots in the opener, the Vees yielded just 21 in a dominating performance in Game 2.
Mat Robson has surrendered just two goals on the 48 shots and came within 1:51 of a shutout in Game 2.
Harbinson isn’t anticipating any lineup changes tonight, though forward Taylor Sanheim has been cleared to play after being sidelined for over a month with an upper-body ailment.
“We’ve got to sort a few things out with our (number of) 20-year-olds before we can get him in there,” said Harbinson.
Defencemen Kenny Johnson and Greg Brydon are also healthy, while Sam Rossini is nearing a return from a knee injury that has sidelined him the entire season. Affiliated players Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby Winter Club) and Cassidy Bowes (Okanagan Hockey Academy) — both forwards — have also joined up with the Vees for the remainder of the post-season and both are eligible to play.
ICE CHIPS: If a Game 5 is necessary, it goes Thursday at 7 p.m. at the SOEC . . . . The Vees are planning to send a fan bus to Merritt for tonight’s game. The cost is $35 for the bus ride, game ticket and a small pizza. Contact the SOEC box office to book a seat . . . . Vernon leads Trail 2-0 in the other Interior semifinal heading to Trail for Games 3 and 4 tonight and Tuesday. The big shocker is in the Mainland final, where Chilliwack Chiefs beat regular-season champs Wenatchee Wild twice south of the border to take a 2-0 lead, with the next three games scheduled for Chilliwack. The Island final between Victoria and Powell River is tied 1-1 heading to Powell River for the next two games . . . . Penticton is guaranteed a berth to the Western Canada Cup as host.