Vees lose opener 2-1 to Brooks Bandits, No. 1 team in Canada
Penticton falls 2-1 to top-ranked Brooks
Another tough loss to the top team in the country, but another valuable point for the Penticton Vees.
Ty Mappin tipped home Dennis Cesana’s cross-seam pass from the right point as the Brooks Bandits edged the Vees 2-1 in Penticton’s first round-robin game at the RBC Cup national Junior-A championship on Sunday afternoon in Cobourg, Ont.
The Vees picked up a point for the overtime loss, while the Alberta league-champion Bandits got two points for the OT win.
The Bandits also got three points for their 6-3 regulation win over the Terrebonne Cobras in the opening game of the five-team competition on Saturday.
Parker Foo tied the game for Brooks early in the third period to negate a goal that he accidentally backhanded into his own net late in the first period. Ryley Risling was credited with the goal for the Vees.
Cale Makar had two assists for the Bandits, who also beat the Vees in a shootout last week in round-robin play at the Western Canada Cup in Penticton.
Mitchel Benson made 20 saves for the Bandits, while Vees’ player of the game Mat Robson made 31 stops.
The Vees will try to get in the win column in the lone game today as they take on the host Cobourg Cougars at 4:30 p.m. PT. Cobourg beat Ontario league rivals Trenton Golden Hawks 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
The Bandits almost scored in the first minute of the game as Joe O’Connor rifled a shot off the post, but the Vees carried the play for the rest of the period.
Risling — inserted into the lineup after forward Taylor Sanheim was scratched due to the flu — opened the scoring at 17:50. He centered the puck from behind the net and Foo stopped it but had it bounce off his stick and past a bewildered Benson. Cassidy Bowes and Jared Nash earned assists.
The second period was marked by a parade to the box, with eight minor penalties called. Brooks almost scored with 30 seconds left but Robson thwarted Tyler Carangelo on a breakaway from the red line in. The Bandits — losers of just one game in the post-season — finally tied it on a power play 33 seconds into the third. Robson made a good stop on Makar’s blast, but Foo was right there to pot the rebound from 10 feet out.
Brooks kept coming and the Vees didn’t register their first shot until the 10-minute mark. Penticton then came close on a couple of power plays and Bandits’ Connor Jean blasted a screened shot off the post with seven minutes left.
Brooks broke through early in the 10-minute, 4-on-4 overtime session.
Makar got the puck to Cesana who made a perfect pass from the right point to the left post where Mappin was stationed to easily steer the puck home.
Mappin was named player of the game for Brooks.
The Vees went 0-for-8 and the Bandits 1-for-5 on the power play.
ICE CHIPS: Vees F Jamie Armstrong left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return . . . . The Vees also play Trenton on Wednesday and Terrebonne on Thursday, both 12:30 p.m. PT puck-drops . . . . All games are being streamed free at hockeycanada.ca.