I was at tonight's BCHL game as Penticton defeated Vernon 6-1 in front of 1,840 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Penticton: Michael Garteig
1st Period: The Vipers would get the games first powerplay just 1:30 into the opening period. Adam Tambellini with a wicked shot from the top of the circle just missed the top corner on a great chance as Vernon with just a single shot on the man advantage couldnt generate any real offence after a strong Penticton Vees penalty kill. The Vipers would carry the better of the play after the powerplay for a good four or five minutes but couldnt generate any offence. The Vees would their first chance of the night early after Kirby Halcrow was down and out of position the Vees couldnt find a man in the slot after a good defensive play by the Vipers breaking up the pass and clearing the zone. Just over five minutes into the game Geoff Crisfield and Penticton captain, Logan Johnston dropped the gloves. Penticton would slowly come on and get a handfull of chances as Kirby Halcrow had to be sharp making some big saves. Halcrow stopped Ryan Reilly from the slot making a big pad save and then the Vees had a great chance after Joey Benik missed the top corner on a odd man rush, Benik stayed with the play, collected the rebound come back out front before Halcrow come up with a huge glove save just before the midway mark as the Vees were outshooting the Vipers 5-2. On the next play Bryce Gervais, Mike Reilly and Joey Benik on a three on two with some nice passing setup former Salmon Arm Silverback forward, Bryce Gervais who beat Kirby Halcrow low giving Penticton a 1-0 lead at 10:39 Reilly and Benik with the helpers. Just over a minute later Penticton would get its first powerplay of the night but it was Darren Nowick who got a shorthanded breakaway had Michael Garteig beat but missed the net with a backhand on a great opportunity, back come the Vees on the same play getting across the Vernon blueline Mario Lucia setup Mike Reilly whos point shot beat Halcrow at 12:32 giving the Vees a 2-0 lead, Lucia and Travis St. Denis collected the assists. The Vees kept coming and controlled the better of the play for the remainder of the 1st period. Curtis Loik with a chance from the slot couldnt beat Kirby Halcrow from in close. Vernon who didnt look too bad early was down two goals and couldnt get any offensive chances as the Vees defence played very good boxing the Vipers out and keeping the Vernon shooters to the outside. The Vipers would take a late penalty and it would cost them after some nice passing Travis St. Denis setup Mario Lucia who beat Halcrow with 1.4 seconds remaining giving Penticton a 3-0 lead and basically putting this game away just after one period of play. St. Denis and Joey Benik with the assists. Penticton looked very strong going two for two with the man advantage and was up 3-0 after 20 minutes of play. The Vees outshot the Vipers 18-4.
2nd Period: Vernon would get an early powerplay just eight seconds into the middle frame but it was a very solid Vees penalty kill that didnt allow the Vipers to record a single shot on the man advantage. Travis St. Denis was very good on the penalty kill as the Vees would kill off the minor. Just as the penalty expired the Vees who move the puck so well worked their magic with some nice passing as Travis St. Denis beat Halcrow at the side of the goal giving Penticton a 4-0 lead at 2:17 Mike Reilly and Logan Johnston with the helpers. The Vees really poured on the pressure early and often as the Vipers were held in their own end for most of the 2nd period. Kirby Halcrow come up with a huge glove save (his second of the night) off Joey Benik and then Steven Fogarty beat Halcrow but hit the post as Penticton was really firing offence all night. Penticton would get an early powerplay and make the Vipers pay for a third time. Troy Stetcher and Steven Fogarty with some passing at the blueline found Mike Reilly at the side of the goal who beat Halcrow at 4:39 giving the Vees a 5-0 lead and full control of tonights contest. Both Stetcher and Fogarty with the assists. On the next shift the Vipers would get their second powerplay of the period but for the second straight time the Vees with a very solid penalty kill wouldnt give up a single shot as Penticton would easily kill off the minor. For the second straight period the Vipers had troubles creating and generating any kind of offence as it took Vernon twelve minutes to record their first shot of the period. Penticton would get its second powerplay of the period and for the first time tonight the Vipers would kill off a penalty. Tempers heated up between these two rivals late in the period after a scrum occured in front of the Vees goal and Michael Garteig with several players pushing and shoving. Late in the period Travis St. Denis with his second of the evening opened the flood gates putting Penticton up 6-0 at 18:28 Nick Buchanan and Zach Urban collected the assists. On the next shift the Vees would get a late powerplay that they couldnt capitalize on that would carry on into the 3rd period. At the buzzer Ryan Renz and Kyle Beaulieu exchanged a shot at one another with Renz trying to get away from the linesman and go after Beaulieu. This period was all Penticton as the Vees dominated the play and the scoreboard scoring three times taking a 6-0 lead into the 3rd. The Vees outshot the Vipers 10-7.
3rd Period: Vernon product, Danny Todosychuk started the 3rd after Kirby Halcrow gave up six goals on twenty eight Vees shots after two periods of play. The Vees started the 3rd with just a handfull of seconds remaining on a powerplay that was carried over from the 2nd period. The Vipers would kill off the remaining few seconds before heading right back to the penalty box giving the Vees an early man advantage. But it was Dylan Walchuk shorthanded that made a few nice moves cutting across the Vees blueline before stepping into a hard slapshot from the slot but Michael Garteig come way out to challenge getting down stopping Walchuks shot. Vernon would kill off the minor. The Vees who were up by six goals took their foot off the gas for most of the final period as the Vipers come out hitting playing with a bit of energy. Vernon who was outshooting the Vees 4-1 early to start the 3rd played a fairly physical period and created and generated their most offence all night. Michael Garteig who didnt see alot of action in the first two periods had to be alert early and often to start the 3rd making two or three nice pad saves. A fairly chippy 3rd with both teams giving the odd shot or punch to someone after a stopage in play. Dylan Walchuk who saw a ton of icetime in the 3rd was the Vipers best forward getting a few real good chances. Garteig had to come up big with a nice glove save off Walchuk. The Vipers would lose Brendan Persley just before the midway mark after recieving a checking to the head penalty, this was the end of Persleys night as he headed for the showers. The Vees couldnt capitalize with the man advantage before giving Vernon a powerplay just after the midway mark. The Vipers would finally get on the board after Michael Garteig stopped Brett Corkeys point shot but couldnt handle Aaron Hadley who beat Garteig on the rebound cutting the Penticton lead to five goals at 11:21 Corkey and Dylan Walchuk with the helpers. At the other end Danny Todosychuk wasnt overly busy but had atleast two tough saves with traffic in front. Mike Reilly come close to getting his third of the night after beating Todosychuk down low but hit either the base or the outside of the post. The Vipers would lose Mike Zalewski late in the game after taking a ten minute misconduct. The Vees really got under the skin of Zalewski who was being pestered by several Penticton Vees all night. Zalewski hit the showers with just over three minutes remaining. The Vees who sat back for most of the period saw the Vipers with their most offensive chances all night played fairly well but it was too little too late for Vernon as Penticton would win its 19th straight with a pretty convincing 6-1 victory. Vernon outshot Penticton 10-8.
Top Players: (Vernon)
Geoff Crisfield played a very physical-spirited game. Dropped the mits with Vees captain, Logan Johnston.
Ryan Renz who has been playing some of his best hockey of the season the past few games was very solid on the Vernon blueline tonight. Renz who also played physical was very steady defensively.
Dylan Walchuk (1 assist) Saw alot of icetime in the 3rd and was by far the Vipers best forward tonight. Walchuk with atleast three or four chances in the 3rd was really skating and creating offensive opportunities.
Game Thoughts: (Vernon)
Vernon who has lost nine straight on the road has just one win in six games vs Penticton this season. The Vipers who are without five key players (Max Mowat, Patrick McGillis, Luke Juha, Ben Gamache & John Knisley) were no contest for the Penticton Vees who completely dominated tonights game. I thought the Vipers got off to a good start (other then a not so good early powerplay) I thought Vernon played well the first five or so minutes before the Vees took over. My turning point of tonights game was a Darren Nowick shorthanded breakaway, Nowick who missed the net scores here and the games tied 1-1 Nowick dosnt score, the Vees come back on the same shift score on the powerplay and get out to a 2-0 lead and never look back. Giving up a late powerplay goal with just 1.4 seconds in the 1st was also a big blow and hard to take. Overall the Vipers just cant compete vs the Vees. If Vernon thinks or wants to beat Penticton your going to have to generate much more then just four shots on goal in the opening period and then get alot more shots and scoring chances overall. It took the Vipers the first twelve minutes of the 2nd period to record their first shot on goal and that was with two powerplays. Your not going to win hockey games like that no matter who your playing. The Vipers who had a game in hand tonight are still two points back of 4th place Prince George.
Top Players: (Penticton)
Mike Reilly (2 goals & 2 assists) Has played very well vs Vernon this season and did it again tonight. A very smooth skating d-man really sees and reads the ice well, is very shifty and always seems to know where to go or where to be at just the right time. The Vipers need to try and slow this kid down, play physical against him and cant give him the time and space he gets.
Ryan Reilly played well up front for the Vees, had a few good scoring chances tonight.
Joey Benik (2 assists) Was very good for the Vees tonight, Benik who also plays very well against the Vipers was dangerous on several opportunities.
Logan Johnston (1 assist) I thought played very well on the Penticton backend, played well defensively and physical.
Travis St. Denis (2 goals & 2 assists) Also played very well up front for the Penticton Vees. St. Denis was very good at both ends of the rink as well on specialty teams.
Kyle Beaulieu really got under the skin of several Vernon Vipers, played and used that agitator roll to his advantage.
Bryce Gervais (1 goal) Was very good for the Vees tonight. Showed alot of hustle most of the night, was skating hard and working hard.
Game Thoughts: (Penticton)
The Vees are now just ten wins away from tying the BCHL record for the longest winning streak. Penticton who was off for seventeen days until playing tonight didnt look rusty at all. Penticton was tested early, having to kill off a early Viper powerplay before slowly taking over the edge in play getting several good chances in the first half before scoring two quick goals to jump out to the two goal lead and basically never looking back. The Vees who have basically dominated the Vipers all season are going to be very hard to beat come playoffs. This team has a ton of firepower up front, very solid defensively and has one of the leagues best goaltenders. I thought the Vees played very well defensively, really shutdown the Vipers offence especially in the first two periods. Penticton controlled the better of the play and was the better team for most of the night. This game wasnt even close. I was impressed with Pentictons penalty kill and early powerplay. The Vees with some very nice passing, looked like they had the puck on a string at times tonight. Nice to see a pretty big crowd on hand for tonights game.
Scratches:
Vernon:
Max Mowat (Injured)
Patrick McGillis (Injured)
Luke Juha (Injured)
Ben Gamache (Injured)
John Knisley (Injured)
Penticton:
Mark McLellan
3 Stars:
1st Star: Mike Reilly (2 goals & 2 assists)
2nd Star: Travis St. Denis (2 goals & 2 assists)
3rd Star: Joey Benik (2 assists)
For more on tonights game visit the boxscore,
http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=977763&link=bchl
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