Vees prevail in P.G.

Tychonick shines in Penticton’s 4-1 win

Defenceman Jonny Tychonick and the Penticton Vees started a challenging threegame weekend with a big road win over the Prince George Spruce Kings.

Tychonick scored once and recorded three primary assists as the Vees stayed undefeated (five wins and a tie) in 2018 with a 4-1 victory over the Kings.

Jordan Henderson, Chris Klack and Cassidy Bowes also scored for the Vees (27-9-2-3) who moved back ahead of Wenatchee Wild by one point into second place in the Interior Division.

Ben Polsson scored for the Spruce Kings (21-14-4-4), who stayed locked in a three-way tie for first place in the Mainland Division with Langley and Surrey.

Adam Scheel made 24 stops for the Vees, while Evan DeBrouwer stopped 32 shots for the Kings.

The Vees bused back to Penticton immediately after the game to host the Merritt Centennials tonight at 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vees also play the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the SOEC.

After a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in a 67-second span early in the second.

Polsson scored an unassisted shorthanded goal on a backhander over Scheel at 2:22.

One second after the same Kings penalty ended, Henderson took a nice feed from Tychonick and ripped one bar-down from the left circle. Jack Barnes also assisted at 3:29.

Klack potted the go-ahead goal with 13 seconds left in the period, swatting home a rebound of Owen Sillinger’s shot after another terrific back-door feed by Tychonick. Bowes, returning after missing eight games with an upper-body injury, made it 3-1 at 4:14 of the third period. Tychonick had his shot stopped by DeBrouwer, but the puck bounced back through a maze of legs for Bowes to blast home.

Tychonick — projected to be a firstor second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft — finished the scoring on the power play with 6:35 to play. He took a drop pass from Dakota Boutin, skated to the slot and beat DeBrouwer with a sizzling blast just under the bar.

The Vees are now just four points behind the first-place Vernon Vipers with Penticton still holding three games in hand.

ICE CHIPS: F Jackson Keane had two assists for the Vees . . . . The Vees played one man short with 12 forwards and five defencemen, with D Michael Campoli (upper-body) listed as day-to-day and Nicky Leivermann (upper-body) still out for another 2-3 weeks. F Massimo Rizzo (illness) didn’t make the trip but could return for tonight’s game.