Vees win big; Warriors lose big
While the Penticton Vees were busy Friday celebrating a special night with a 5-2 win over the Coquitlam Express, the West Kelowna Warriors were on the receiving end of a 7-1 drubbing courtesy of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks during an otherwise quiet weekend in the B.C. Hockey League.
The Vees’ big win came in front of 4,775 fans on Pink the Rink Night at the South Okanagan Events Centre in support of anti-bullying initiatives.
Penticton wasted no time lighting the lamp, with Ryan Hopkins opening the scoring 1:27 into the game and Nic DeGraves adding one just four minutes later.
By the midway mark of the third period, the Vees were up 4-0, before the Express responded with two quick goals to draw within striking distance. But their comeback stalled when Brett Moravec fired a shot into an empty net to make it 5-2. Gabriel Guilbault scored the other Vees’ goal, his first in the BCHL.
Vees netminder Luca stopped 14 of 16 shots for his 26th win of the season and leads all BCHL goaltenders with a 1.66 goals-against average.
Bradly Nadeau, who leads the BCHL with 75 points, was held off the scoresheet, while his brother Josh Nadeau carded an assist and now sits second in the scoring race with 71 points. Their teammate, Aydar Suniev, is third with 62 points.
The Vees (36-3-0-1), who lead the Interior Conference by 13 points and the league by 12 points, return to action Friday night when they host the Warriors.
SALMON ARM 7, WEST KELOWNA 1
West Kelowna Warriors’ backup netminder Cayden Hamming got the hook early in the second period after giving up four goals on 16 shots as his team went on to fall 7-1 to the host Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night.
Jake Bernadet scored the lone goal for the Warriors about midway through the first period to knot the affair at 1-1, but it was all Silverbacks from there.
Angelo Zoll relieved Camming just over six minutes into the second frame and stopped 21 of 24 shots fire his way.
The Warriors (22-15-4-0) sit third in the Interior Conference standings, 12 points back of the second-pace Cranbrook Bucks. They’re back in action Friday night in Penticton. It will mark the final match of a seven-game stretch of road games for the Warriors, who’ve won just one of their last six.
VERNON 4, WEST KELOWNA 3
The host Vernon Vipers wasted no time pouncing on the punch-drunk West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday night.
Vernon led 2-0 just seven minutes into the contest and 3-2 after two periods. The clubs exchanged goals in the third period.
Walker Erickson, Reagan Milburn, Hank Cleaves and Seiya TanakaCampbell scored for Vernon, while Aiden Reeves, Riley Sharun and Rylee Hlusiak replied for West Kelowna.
Roan Clark stopped 17 of 20 shots to pick up the win in the Vernon crease, while Justin Katz turned aside 35 of 39 shots in the losing effort.
The Vipers (19-18-0-4) are seventh in the Interior Conference, with a five-point edge over eighth-place Trail. They hit the road this weekend for games Friday in Power River and Saturday in Nanaimo.