Vees wrap up road stretch in Trail tonight

Penticton hosts red-hot Smokies on Saturday

The two hottest teams in the BCHL since the calendar flipped to 2018 launch an important home-and-home series tonight.

The Penticton Vees take on the Trail Smoke Eaters in a 7 p.m. puck-drop at the Cominco Arena, with the rematch — the sixth and final meeting between the Interior Division rivals — set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Penticton (33-10-2-3) is closing out a run of six straight road games in which it has gone 4-1 to take over top spot in the Interior and B.C. Hockey League overall standings.

The Vees have gone a tidy 11-1-0-1 in 2018 and lead the Wenatchee Wild by one point, the Vernon Vipers by two and Trail by six in the hotly contested Interior.

Trail (30-14-4-1) has stayed in the race by going 8-2-1-1 in 2018 and 10-2-1-1 in its last 14 overall.

The teams have met four times this season with the Vees winning twice, losing once and tying another.

Penticton won the last meeting, 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 20 at the SOEC, and Trail has won four straight (all at home) since then.

Including tonight, the Vees have 10 games remaining — five at home and five on the road.

Penticton plays twice against Trail, Salmon Arm and Coquitlam and once against Vernon, Wenatchee, Langley and Surrey.

Wenatchee and Vernon only have eight games left and Trail has nine.

The Vees are bidding for an unprecedented seventh division pennant.

ICE CHIPS: The Vees’ penalty killing has slipped slightly of late but remains No. 1 in the BCHL at 87.0 per cent (27 goals against in 208 chances). The power play is fifth at 20.7 per cent (43 goals scored in 208 chances) . . . . The Vees are 5-2-3 in overtime this season.