Game Recap: Vees score late, edge Warriors
Photo: Cherie Morgan
Penticton, BC – The Penticton Vees have a flare for the dramatic. Ryden Evers scored with just over two minutes left in regulation, as the Vees earned a 3-2 win over the West Kelowna Warriors, Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The win extended the Vees point streak to eight game (6-0-2-0) and their home point streak to 17 games (12-0-5-0). Penticton is now six points ahead of second place Brooks in the Interior Conference.
Penticton was inconsistent, but a strong start and even better finish helped them get by their Okanagan rivals on Friday.
“We were really good in the first period, really good in third period, but we weren’t consistent enough tonight. We still managed to get the two points and that matters most. We had to grind until the end to pick up a big win,” said Assistant GM Matthew Miller post-game.
Evers’ game-winning goal came with just 2:15 left in regulation, as his 21st of the season snapped a 2-2 tie. Evers scored on his own rebound from one knee after his initial wrap around try was kicked out.
Louie Wehmann and Tristan Petersen also scored for the Vees, with their goals coming in the first period. Penticton led 2-0 after 20 minutes.
West Kelowna’s Same LeDrew scored his team-leading 21st and 22nd goals of the season in the second, as the Warriors erased a 2-0 deficit. Penticton was outshot 11-4 in the middle frame, but outshot West Kelowna 19-8 in the other two periods.
The Vees opened the scoring six minutes into the game when Wehmann scored his 11th of the season. Off a face-off in their own end, Wehmann raced the other way with Matthew Cataldo and finished off the rush by putting a backhand deke past the Warriors’ Édouard Gauthier.
Petersen added to the Vees’ lead late in the first period when he scored on a breakaway after a Warriors’ turnover at 15:41. Petersen bagged his third of the season after the Warriors coughed up the puck in the neutral zone.
West Kelowna rallied in the second with a pair of goals from LeDrew early in late. His first came just 23 seconds into the middle frame that made it 2-1. Then the Warriors’ LeDrew scored a tying goal at 17:43. His second nearly identical to his first.
In the third, the Vees thought they had retaken the lead eight minutes into the period when Simon Meier scored on a two-on-on rush. However, the four officials huddled, and the goal was overturned after it was determined the puck had gone out of play at the Warriors’ bench, before ricocheting back onto the ice.
It stayed 2-2 until late in regulation when Evers scored the game-winner. The Vees had the Warriors pinned in their own zone and it was Evers scoring on his rebound. His initial wrap around was stopped, but he got to the loose puck in front and from his knees and poked it in underneath Gauthier at 17:45. His 21st, matching his jersey number.
GAME NOTES
Evers has three goals in his last four games. Evers had 10 points (4G, 6A) in six games against the Warriors this season. The Vees finished with a 5-1-0-0 record against West Kelowna this season. Louie Wehmann has four goals in his last five games. The Vees home point streak is at 17 games and counting, which dates back to November 11th.
GAME STATS
Shots: Vees- 23 Warriors-19
Scoring: Louie Wehmann (11), Tristan Petersen (3), Ryden Evers (21)
Goaltending: Ethan Buenaventura (W), 60:00, 17/19
Vees Power Play: 0/3
Vees Penalty Kill: 1/1
Three Stars:
1) Louie Wehmann (1G)
2) Same LeDrew (2G)
3) Ben Merrill (1G)
Up Next: The Vees (36-7-5-0) face the Spruce Grove Saints on Friday, March 14th, at 7:00 pm, at the SOEC.