Game 4 Vernon @ Penticton: (Game Preview)

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

Tonight is a must win for the Penticton Vees, they don’t want to be heading back to Vernon for Game 5 down 3-1. Last nights Game 3 could have gone either way in a very entertaining hockey game. Vernon could easily be down 2-1 in the series with a must win tonight. Both teams will be playing their best hockey of the season tonight. Who will Fred Harbinson go with in goal tonight? Will the Vees go back with backup Sean Bonar who got the win in Game but lost last night or go with the teams # 1 tender in Jordan White who played but lost in game 2? Specialty teams and goaltending will once again play a key role in tonights game. Vernon is going to have to keep an eye on Garrett Milan who has been huge against the Vipers in this series. Penticton is going to have to try and get traffic in front of Andrew Hammond and get lots of shots towards the veteran goaltender. 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, for more on this series. http://pentictonvees.podbean.com/


Heres a look at the 2nd Round Playoff Series:

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

March 7th @ Vernon: Game 2 Vernon wins 5-1

Kellen Jones put the Vipers on the board first, as the Vipers were up 1-0 after 20 mins of play. Vernon Captain, Chris Crowell would score two goals in the 2nd as the Vipers went up 3-0 after 40 mins of play, Vernon was all over Penticton outshooting them 18-5 in the 2nd period. Garrett Milan missed on a penalty shot on a great chance to get the Vees back into the game. Braden Pimm sealed the victory scoring just 35 seconds into the 3rd as Vernon jumped ahead 4-0. Matt Paltridge would beat Andrew Hammond with a long shot, getting Penticton on the scoreboard. Cole Ikkala rounded out the Vipers scoring late as Vernon tied the series 1-1 with a 5-1 victory. Andrew Hammond made 24 saves for the win. Jordan White made 40 saves in the loss. The Vipers outplayed the Vees for most of tonights game, outshooting them 45-25. This was Pentictons 7th game in 9 nights.

http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=673300

March 9th @ Penticton: Game 3 Vernon wins 3-2

Cory Kane breaks a 2-2 with two and a half minutes left to score the winner for Vernon. Andrew Hammond was a rock between the pipes for the Vipers coming up huge making many big saves helping the Vipers to the 3-2 victory. A very entertaining game overall with some very tight checking defensive plays at both ends of the rink. Kyle Bigos and Kellen Jones scored the other Viper goals, while Garrett Milan scored both Penticton goals on the powerplay. Penticton outplayed Vernon all 3rd period but couldn’t beat Hammond for the game tying goal.

http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=673309

Key Players To Watch:

Vernon:

Sahir Gill 4 pts
Chris Crowell 3 pts
Connor Jones 3 pts

Braden Pimm 3 pts

Kellen Jones 3 pts

Mike Collins 2 pts

Cory Kane 1 pts

Cameron Brodie 0 pts

Andrew Hammond 2-1 record-2.22 GAA

Penticton:

Curtis McKenzie 10 pts
Garrett Milan 8 pts
Ryan Johansen 7 pts
Ryan Viselli 7 pts
Brodie Reid 6 pts
Max Grassi 5 pts

Travis Ouellette 5 pts

Zack Joespher 3 pts

Devon Krogh 2 pts
Denver Manderson 0 pts (Injured)