Penney comes off practice roster and helps Stealth to win over Bandits

The New Westminster Salmonbellies traded away netminder Eric Penney last spring to open up a place for Tye Belanger, who was coming off a stellar winter with the Vancouver Stealth.

Belanger began the current National Lacrosse League season as the Stealth’s No. 1 goalie again, but struggled.

Vancouver decided Saturday’s visit to the Buffalo Bandits was time to give someone else a chance in goal.

Guess who?

Penney came off the practice roster, got the start and made 52 saves to help the Stealth (1-4) secure an 11-10 overtime victory versus the Bandits (2-3) before a crowd of 12,610 at the Key Bank Center.

Joel McCready bagged the winner at 2:12 of the extra session, sneaking a shot past Buffalo netminder Alexis Buque. Buffalo had tied it with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter on a Mitch Jones tally, forcing overtime.

McCready, Jones, Buque and Belanger all spent last summer with the Salmonbellies and helped them to the Mann Cup national club championship, where they lost to the Peterborough Lakers.

Penney played against the Salmonbellies in the Western Lacrosse Association this summer with the Burnaby Lakers and won the Leo Nicholson Memorial Trophy as the league’s outstanding goaltender. He led the league in goals against (7.02) and save percentage (.856) while going 8-2-0 for the Lakers.

He had been with the Salmonbellies for two seasons. He had been with the Stealth, too, and was their starter for a time in 2016 before giving way to Tyler Richards, who lost the top guy gig to Belanger last season.

Penney’s last NLL win prior to Saturday came Feb. 6, 2016, when he made 40 saves in a 15-7 Vancouver triumph over the Colorado Mammoth. His last NLL appearance had been April 30, 2016, when he played part of a 14-6 road loss to the Georgia Swarm.

Oddly enough, Penney had been drafted by Bandits, going to them in the fifth round in 2013. He never played a game for Buffalo before being traded to Vancouver on Sept. 22, 2014, as part of the Rory Smith swap.

Corey Small had four goals and four assists for the winners on Saturday. Small had his struggles as well in Vancouver’s first four games, putting up just two goals. He finished third in NLL scoring last year with 111 points for the 9-9 Stealth and was a league most valuable player candidate.

Saturday’s outburst puts him at 23 points, highlighted by the six goals, in five games.

Fellow southpaw Logan Schuss, who had been one of the few bright spots in the Stealth’s start to the campaign, continued along Saturday, producing three goals and four assists. Righties McCready and Rhys Duch both had two goals and two assists.

Duch, a three-time 40-goal man in the NLL, had just one goal in his first four games.

Not surprisingly, the Vancouver power play started to click as part of this surge from the offence, going 3-for-11. They had been 3-for16 on the season going in.

Schuss is at 12 goals on the season, despite missing Vancouver’s visit to New England. He’s two off the league lead, which belongs to Adam Jones of the Toronto Rock.

Righty Dhane Smith had two goals and two assists in the losing cause. Jones added two goals and one assist. Buque made 39 saves.

The Stealth are idle next week. They return to action Jan. 26, visiting the Mammoth. They’re home the next night, hosting the Georgia Swarm at the Langley Events Centre.