Game 2 Penticton @ Vernon: (Game Preview)

Penticton (4-2) @ Vernon (0-1)

Tonight’s Game 2 will be a must win situation for the Vernon Vipers after losing in Game 1 last night 4-3 in Overtime. Vernon dosnt want to be down two games heading to Penticton for Games 3 & 4 Tuesday-Wednesday, as the Vipers have lost their last two meetings at the new South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vees who have been one of the hotter teams in the BCHL since the Christmas break come into tonight’s game winning three out of the last four meetings between these two hockey clubs. After a tough hard fought five game series with the Prince George Spruce Kings, & picking up their first win in Vernon last night, the Vees have all the momentum going into tonight’s game. The Vipers on the other hand have been off for the past two weeks and now are down 1-0 in the series. Specialty teams and goaltending will be the difference tonight, after both played key roles in last nights contest. You can listen to tonight’s game with Todd Miller live on 105.7 Kiss FM starting at 6:45pm

Make sure and check out Ryan Pinders Penticton Vees blog, as Pinder does an excellent job at covering the Vees and this series. http://pentictonvees.podbean.com/

Heres a look back at last night's Game 1:

March 6th @ Vernon: Game 1 Penticton wins 4-3 Overtime

Just minutes into the game Penticton goes on an early two man advantage, with Andrew Hammond out of his crease and covering the puck, the play still alive, allows the Vees to pick up the loose puck as Garrett Milan beat Hammond putting the Vees on the board first. Everyone starts pushing and shoving before Cameron Brodie and Kyle Bigos drop the gloves as the Vees come out of the mini scrum with a 7 minute powerplay. Vernon kills off the major and then Adam Thompson would tie the game on the powerplay late in the 1st period. Ryan Santana would be stopped on a penalty shot early to start the 2nd period. After some good pressure by the Vipers, Sean Bonar keeps his hockey club in the game, allowing Curtis McKenzie and Ryan Johansen (PP) to give the Vees a two goal lead heading into the 3rd. It was all Vernon in the final frame, as the Penticton defence tried shutting down the Vipers with some early solid defensive coverage before the Vipers would rally scoring two goals tying the game 3-3. Sahir Gill (PP) & rookie Kory Roy beat Bonar sending the game to Overtime. In the extra frame the Vipers looked very soft and nervous, making all kinds of defensive errors causing many turnovers, wich resulted in Garrett Milans 2nd goal of the night, giving the Vees their first win of the season in Vernon. Andrew Hammond made 28 saves in the loss, while Sean Bonar who was a surprise start made 44 saves in the victory.

http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=673290


Key Players To Watch:

Vernon: (Regular Season)

Connor Jones 60 pts
Braden Pimm 54 pts
Kellen Jones 52 pts
Mike Collins 50 pts
Chris Crowell 43 pts
Cory Kane 42 pts
Sahir Gill 39 pts
Cameron Brodie 24 pts
Andrew Hammond 27-12-1 record-2.30 GAA

Penticton: (Regular Season)

Curtis McKenzie 64 pts
Denver Manderson 57 pts (Injured)
Garrett Milan 57 pts
Travis Ouellette 53 pts
Ryan Viselli 52 pts
Max Grassi 52 pts
Zack Joespher 52 pts
Brodie Reid 39 pts
Devon Krogh 33 pts