Game Recap - 2nd Round Playoffs - Game 3 Penticton 4 Vernon 0

I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following Junior hockey in Vernon my whole life. My family watched Senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching Junior hockey in Vernon since it started in 1961. I have two family members that played Junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 and missed 5 home games since 2004 and 46 home games since 1990. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 2.9 million viewers. For anyone who couldn't watch or attend tonight's Vipers game, here are my thoughts and views from tonight's hockey game. You may agree or disagree, but we all have our own opinion on the hockey game and see things differently. I try to be professional and give a fare game recap from both sides. Thank you for visiting my blog.

I was at tonight's Game 3 Playoff game between the Vernon Vipers & Penticton Vees as the Vees took Game 3 4-0 in front of 1,751 fans at Kal Tire Place.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon Vipers: Ethan David

Penticton Vees: Will Ingemann

1st Period: I thought the Vees were the better of the two teams, carried the better of the play, had more zone time, more puck possession, created/generated chances and played very well on the road. Thomas Pichette opened the scoring for Penticton at 6:19 The Vipers had some good shifts but struggled offensively. The Snakes maybe had two good looks/opportunities, other then that couldn't get much of anything going. Vernon held their own at times but overall the Vees were that much better. It was 1-0 Penticton after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 15-9 Vees.

2nd Period: The Vees basically put the game away in the middle frame, scoring twice to take a 3-0 lead. Once again the Vees were the better team, outskated and outshot the Vipers for most of this period. Penticton had some good looks/chances but Ethan David kept his team in the contest. This team can skate, move the puck and it showed in the 2nd period. Penticton had a ton of zone time, puck possession through out the period. Vernon struggled offensively, to not only generate offence but get shots on goal. The Vipers went at least twelve minutes or so without a shot on goal. The Vipers saw a lot of play in their own end. It was 3-0 Vees after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 12-3 Penticton.

3rd Period: The Vees started the final frame with the man advantage and capitalize early, taking a 4-0 lead at 1:31 Penticton took their foot off the gas for most of the remainder of the game as Vernon carried the better of the play but for a third straight period struggled offensively. The Snakes couldn't get much of anything going as the Vees defence was very good through out the evening. For a second straight period, the Vipers went lengthy periods of time without a shot on goal. As the period continued the Vipers weren't play with much emotion and the game was like a pre-season game. A very dull and boring period with both teams not doing much of anything. The visiting Penticton Vees would take Game 3 4-0 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the best of seven playoff series. Shots were 8-2 Penticton.

Vernon Vipers Top Performers:

The line of Owen Kim, Isaac Tremblay and Georgios Stavrianeas was by far the three hardest working Vipers in the loss tonight. Kim showed up, played with a ton of jump/energy was skating hard and trying to make plays as well as get under the skin of the opponents. Tremblay was skating, created/generated some open ice and tried to create some opportunities while Stavrianeas used his speed and energy to create some open ice, was hard to contain.

Ethan David (31 saves) Was by far the busier of the two goaltenders, made several stops through out Game 3 to keep his Vipers in the contest. 

Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers

- Game 4 goes Wednesday in Vernon

- Vipers defenceman/captain Connor Elliott played 4 games with the 2019-20 Penticton Vees

- The Vipers need to generate more then two opportunities in a hockey game. This just isn't good enough. Vernon struggled offensively all night, couldn't get much of anything going

- Tonight was a must win game for the Snakes as they didn't want to go down 3-0 to a very strong Penticton hockey club

- Vernon's power play struggled, didn't look good as the Vipers not only couldn't capitalize with the man advantage but also couldn't get pucks to the net or generate any kind of offence 

- Down 3-0 and heading into the 3rd I would have given Ethan David the remainder of the night off. Let Colin Reay see some playoff hockey and allow David to rest up for Game 4

- I don't look forward to Vernon/Penticton games anymore as it seems the Vees have dominated the games over the past seven to eight years and the games just aren't close or exciting anymore because of the Vees dominant play

- Lets face it, Penticton is just a much much better/stronger team and the Vipers are no where even close to matching them. Sure some of the scores have been close and other then Game 1 the last two games the Vees have been the much better team and it's showed on the ice and the scoreboard

- Vernon went 1-4-0-0 vs Penticton during the regular season

- I remember watching the Vernon Lakers in the 1980s and 1990s and all home games started at 8pm

- The Vipers had some good shifts early in the 1st period, held their own at different times in the 1st period but struggled offensively. Vernon had maybe two good looks/chances in the opening frame, had troubles defending against a very quick yet skilled Penticton hockey team

- Tonight was the Snakes first playoff loss on home ice as the Vipers are now 3-1 at Kal Tire Place

- Vernon didn't have much time with the puck or a whole lot of pressure in the offensive zone. When the Vipers did get the puck and did get into the offensive zone, they couldn't do anything

- The Vipers went 0-3 with the power play

- I would have watched the Vernon Lakers defeat a young Fred Harbinson (Vees Head Coach/GM/President) and the Calgary Canucks in 1990-91 Doyle Cup. Harbinson played two seasons with the Calgary Canucks from 1989-1991

- Tonight's game started at 8:15pm due to the Womens Esso Cup Tournament being played this week at Kal Tire Place

- The Vipers struggled in the 2nd period, were totally outplayed/dominated. Vernon played most of the middle frame in their own end, had troubles defending/containing the Vees forwards, relied on Ethan David to keep them in the game and not let the score get away from them. The Vipers went at least twelve minutes with a single shot on goal. The Vipers struggled offensively couldn't do much of anything as it was all Vees this period

- Including the regular season and playoffs, the Vipers have won twelve of their last sixteen home games

- Your not going to win many hockey games when you get three shots in the 2nd period

- The Vipers only win this season vs the Vees was a 2-1 shootout victory in Vernon November 25th

- Ethan David not only kept his team in tonight's game but has kept Vernon in the entire series

- The Vees took the life out of the building early as there wasn't much excitement or atmosphere at Kal Tire Place tonight

- With the score 4-0 Penticton early into the 3rd the Vees took their foot off the gas as the Vipers were able to carry the better of the play but once again struggled offensively. Just like the 2nd period, Vernon went lengthy periods of time without a single shot on goal. The Snakes couldn't do much of anything in a very dull/boring period

- A much smaller crowd then normal as tonight's attendance was announced at 1,751

- This is the 24th time in franchise history Penticton and Vernon have played in the playoffs

- You almost have to play a flawless game in order to beat the Vees

- The Vipers are 4-4 in the Playoffs

- The Vipers have one win in their last twenty two games vs Penticton

- I think Vernon needs to play with more of an edge, get under the skin of the Vees, play hard, with an edge but disciplined. Muck it up and get the Vees off their game

- The Vipers were just outplayed, plain and simple. Vernon was outskated, outshot and outscored

- The writing is on the wall and this series is all but over. The Snakes needed to win tonight to have any kind of chance of making this a series

- Your not going to win many games with only two shots in the 3rd period

- Including the regular season and playoffs the Snakes are 21-7-2-0 at home this season

- The Vipers were badly outplayed/dominated tonight and it showed. Vernon can't compete with a team like Penticton

- Where have Vernon's goal scorers/veteran players gone? They sure have gone unnoticed in the 2nd round of the playoffs

- A very small crowd tonight and I don't think it was as big as the final attendance was announced. With the late start, a mid week game and the Canucks game tonight, I didn't expect much of a crowd 

- I think Vernon has the bigger team and needs to be more physical vs a very quick/skilled opponent. The Vipers need to be much more physical, finish their checks, ware down their opponents and get more traffic to the net, go to the grey area more, make the game a little more difficult for the Vees goaltenders who are seeing the puck and having a fairly easy time at making saves

- The Vipers just don't have the same skill level players to compete with Penticton 

- Tonight's game was like watching men play against boys

Penticton Vees Top Performers:

Matthew Biotti Played very well on the Vees backend

Nolan Stevenson has played very well this series, had another strong game this evening

Larry Keenan (2 assists) Not only played well in his own end but played well at both ends of the rink, picked up two helpers in the Vees win

Billy Renfrew (2 assists) This kid is quick on his feet and skilled, was hard to defend/contain tonight

Max Heise This kid can skate, a very good one at that, played hard and was always involved in the play

Callum Arnott (1 goal & 1 assist) Has had a strong series, gave the Snakes all kinds of troubles in the offensive zone tonight

Connor MacPherson A big body that finished his checks, was under the Vipers skin often and engaged in the play, played well

Simon Meier (1 goal & 1 assist) Not the biggest kid but had a strong game up front for the Penticton Vees. Was another forward who gave Vernon difficulties in the offensive zone

Thomas Pichette (1 goal) Opened the scoring at 6:19 of the 1st period. This kid is a good hockey player and has played well vs the Vipers this season

Game Thought's: Penticton Vees

- The Penticton Vees are one win away from moving on to the Interior Conference finals vs the West Kelowna Warriors or Salmon Arm Silverbacks

- A good size crowd of Vees fans in attendance, who made a ton of noise and cheered on their team all night long

- The Vees improve to 7-0 in the Playoffs

- Vees forward Callum Arnott is the nephew to former NHLer and Stanley Cup Champion Jason Arnott

- The Vees went 2-5 with the man advantage

- Penticton blocks a lot of shots, takes away time and space, and keeps the Vipers forwards to the outside

- Penticton opened the scoring in the 1st period and were the better team. The Vipers had some good shifts now and again but the Vees carried the better of the play, had more zone time, more puck possession and the better of the opportunities

- The last time the Vipers & Vees met in the Playoffs, Penticton won the best of seven playoff series 4 games to 3 in 2017

- The Vees were by far the better team in all three periods. This team is very quick, very skilled, hard to contain/defend, play well defensively and in their own end, are very well coached and have a quick transition game

- The Vees seem to know where each other are at all times and because of that make plays most teams don't do

- Penticton dominated the middle frame as it was all Vees. The visiting team scored twice in the 2nd period to take a 3-0 lead and basically put the game away even with one period remaining. The Vees played most of the 2nd period in the offensive zone, had some good looks/opportunities, were moving the puck, generating offence and when not with the puck, played well defensively. It was like the Vees had the puck on a string

- The Vees have rotated goaltenders from game to game all playoffs and tonight was no different. Will Ingemann got the start in goal, wasn't tested much and had a pretty easy night between the pipes, only stopping fourteen saves for the win/shutout. If this trend continues Andrew Ness should get the start in goal in Game 4

- The Vees have a very aggressive forecheck and due to this give Vernon's defenders trouble

- It's amazing how good the Vees are and how good they have been for this many years. Basically since 2012 the Vees have been the class of the league and the best team in the Interior Conference

- The Vees only have two players returning from last season's Championship team

- How good has Penticton's defence been this series? The Vees defenders have done a great job at shutting down Vernon's offensive/skilled forwards, taken away time and space and limited the Vipers shots on goal

- The Vees improve to 3-0 on the road in the playoffs

- The Vees are looking to win three straight League Championships. The last time a team won three straight League Championships was the Vernon Vipers from 2009-2011

- It's amazing how good and how skilled this team is. Watching this team pass the puck and move the puck in the offensive zone. If they lose the puck they seem to get it back on the same play

- Including the regular season and playoffs, the Vees have won nine straight road games

- With a 4-0 lead early in the 3rd, Penticton seemed to take their foot off the gas and coast for the remainder of the hockey game. The Vipers carried most of the play but the Vees defence was solid, limiting the Vipers time and space and only giving up two shots on goal

Scratches:

Vernon Vipers:

Filip Krajcik

Payton Struck

Owen King (Injured-Out for the season)

Linden Burrett

Nick Mikan (Injured)

Penticton Vees:

Nate McIsaac

Daneil Buchbinder

Carson Lesiuk

Sharky Nowek

Energy Player of the Game:

Owen Kim

Three Star's:

1st Star: Callum Arnott (1 goal & 1 assist)

2nd Star: Larry Keenan (2 assists)

3rd Star: Simon Meier (1 goal & 1 assist)

Boxscore-Game Summary,

Penticton Vees @ Vernon Vipers Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | BCHL League Site

Game Report,

Game Report (hockeytech.com)

Text Box Score,

Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com (hockeytech.com)

Vernon Junior Hockey History website,

VernonJrAHockey.CA

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Here are some photo's I took before and during tonight's Vernon Vipers-Penticton Vees Game 3