Another Wild ride ahead as Vees visit Wenatchee
The Penticton Vees have had their way with the majority of their Interior Division rivals this season.
The one exception is the Wenatchee Wild. Penticton makes its third and final visit to the Town Toyota Center to take on the Wild in a key matchup south of the border tonight at 6 p.m.
“It’s the start of a huge week for us,” said Vees president, GM and head coach Fred Harbinson. “Three top teams and two against teams we’re fighting with (for first place) in our division.”
The Vees have lost all three meetings with the Wild this season, including
4-2 on Nov. 28 and 5-2 on Dec. 7 in Wenatchee. The Vees have just one road win over the Wild in Wenatchee’s fouryear tenure in the B.C. Hockey League.
Wenatchee also beat the Vees 4-3 on Dec. 8 with a late fluke goal at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Vees had greatly depleted lineups for all three of the previous games with the Wild, though they figure to be closer to full strength tonight.
Forwards Ryan Sandelin and Andre Ghantous (upper-body) and defenceman Jonathan Smart will miss the game. Ghantous could be back by the weekend, while Sandelin is projected to return the following weekend.
Harbinson said veteran Jack LaFontaine gets the start in goal tonight.
The Wild briefly moved past the Vees for first place in the Interior after the home-andhome sweep in early-December, but things have changed since then.
While the Vees have won six of their last seven, the Wild have gone 3-5 in their last eight contests.
The Vees (27-12-1-2) lead the Merritt Centennials by two points for the Interior lead, while Wenatchee (25-15-2) is five points off the pace in third place.
The Vees are led offensively by a defenceman — James Miller is tied for fourth in the league with 52 points — while forward Eric Linell leads the Vees with 24 goals and is sixth in the BCHL with 50 points.
Captain Massimo Rizzo is red-hot with four goals and seven points in his last three games and is averaging over a point per game with 25 in 21 games during his NHL draft year.
Former Vees forward Matt Gosiewski leads the Wild in goals with 24 and points with 43. Wenatchee has a balanced attack with 10 players registering 25 or more points.
Penticton product Nathan Iannone has seven goals and 21 points for Wenatchee.
The Vees and Wild meet twice more this season with both games at the SOEC, Feb. 1 and the regular-season finale on Feb. 20.
The Vees’ challenging week also features a home game against the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday at 7 p.m., with the two teams currently tied for second overall in the BCHL standings with 57 points from 42 games. Chilliwack leads with 59 points.
Penticton visits Merritt in what shapes up to be a showdown for the division lead on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Nicola Valley Arena. Merritt hosts Chilliwack on Thursday in their only game this week prior to facing the Vees.