Vees squeak out victory over Coquitlam in playoff opener
Penticton prevails 2-1 despite doubling Express in shots
The Penticton Vees got the jump in their first-round playoff series against the Coquitlam Express, but it was far from easy.
Jack Barnes scored the winning goal at 7:08 of the second period and the Vees held on for a 2-1 victory over the Express on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Jonny Tychonick also scored for the Vees, who finished a whopping 51 points ahead of the Express during the regular season.
Christian Sanda scored for the Express early in the second period.
Adam Scheel made 18 saves for the win in his BCHL playoff debut, saving his best work for the last few minutes as Coquitlam pushed hard for the tying goal.
Brock Hamm kept Coquitlam in the game with 37 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes tonight at 6 p.m. at the SOEC before it shifts to Coquitlam for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Vees opened the scoring at 5:40 as Tychonick’s low shot found its way through traffic with Massimo Rizzo screening Hamm.
Coquitlam tied the game just 56 seconds into the second period as Sanda directed William Lawrence’s shot past Scheel after a turnover behind the net.
Penticton took complete control of the period after that, outshooting the visitors 16-5. Jared Nash powered his way past a defender down the left wing and Barnes neatly tipped his centering pass between Hamm’s pads for the go-ahead goal. Marcus Mitchell also assisted.
But it was a rocky ride for Penticton in the third period.
The Vees had to kill off a three-minute penalty after defenceman James Miller took a major and game misconduct for checking from behind at 8:46. Coquitlam’s Devon Mussio took a minor on the play or it would have been a five-minute man advantage. Penticton Vees forward Owen Sillinger tries to pull away from Troy Robillard of the Coquitlam Express during Friday’s playoff game at the SOEC.
Miller is now facing a possible two-game suspension as result of the infraction.
The Express got Hamm to the bench with 1:16 to go and Scheel had to make a series of spectacular stops to help the Vees hang on for the win.
Barnes, Hamm and Tychonick were the three stars in front of a crowd of 2,519.
Vipers 5 Silverbacks 2: Derek Brown and Jagger Williamson scored in a oneminute in the second period as Vernon beat Salmon Arm at Kal Tire Place to take a 1-0 series lead.
Cameron Trott, Josh Latta and Mitch Andres also scored for the Vipers.
Tanner Campbell twice gave the visiting Silverbacks one-goal leads. It was 1-1 after 20 minutes and 3-2 Vernon after two periods.
Ty Taylor stopped 23 shots for Vernon, while Reid Cooper made 38 saves for Salmon Arm.
Brown, Hudson Schandor of Salmon Arm and Trott were the three stars in front of 1,838 fans.
Game 2 goes tonight at 6 p.m. at Kal Tire Place.
The visiting teams won the other games on Friday, with Surrey beating Langley 3-2, Chilliwack blanking Prince George 3-0, Powell River downing Nanaimo 4-1, and Alberni Valley edging Victoria 5-4.
The West Kelowna Warriors and Trail Smoke Eaters were tied 5-5 in overtime at the Cominco Arena. Game 2 will also be played in Trail tonight at 7 p.m. before the series shifts to Royal LePage Place.