Valley teams score road wins on opening night

Penticton, Vernon and West Kelowna all victorious; host home openers tonight

The Penticton Vees launched defence of their B.C. Hockey League championship with a hard-fought road win over the Merritt Centennials.

Jonny Tychonick’s power-play goal with 8:03 left in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie as the Vees triumphed 4-2 on Friday at the Nicola Valley Arena.

Co-captain Owen Sillinger and younger brother Lukas Sillinger with his first BCHL goal also scored early in the first period for the Vees, who led 2-0 and 3-2 at the intermissions.

Zach Court and Zach Zorn replied for the Centennials.

Nolan Hildebrand made 24 saves for the win, while Jacob Berger stopped 34 shots for Merritt.

The Vees came out flying and the Sillinger brothers connected in a 20-second span before the game was two minutes old, forcing Merritt coach Joe Martin to take his timeout early.

The home team responded in the second period with Court at 2:09 and Zorn at 7:55 clicking to tie the game.

But Tychonick sizzled a one-time slapshot from the slot over Berger’s glove at 11:57 to put the Vees ahead to stay.

Ward shoveled home a rebound of Ryan Sandelin’s shot with 56.4 seconds left in the third to seal the win.

The Vees are back in action next Friday in Salmon Arm. Vipers 5 Silverbacks 1: Jesse Lansdell scored twice and Jagger Williamson had a goal and two assists as visiting Vernon won the front end of a home-and-home at Shaw Centre.

Jack Judson and Alex Swetlikoff also scored and Michael Ufberg had two assists for the Vipers, who led 2-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.

Justin Wilson spoiled Anthony Yamnitsky’s shutout bid with 12:24 to play in the game. Vernon outshot Salmon Arm 29-21.

The arch-rivals do battle again tonight at 7 p.m. at Kal Tire Place in Vernon. Warriors 4 Smoke Eaters 3: Matt Kowalski produced a hat-trick as visiting West Kelowna held off Trail to start a home-and-home set.

Parm Dhaliwal also scored for the Warriors, who were up 2-0 and 4-2 at the period breaks. The teams meet again tonight at 7 p.m. at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna.