It was a spirited effort tonight, but, it wasn't enough as the Penticton Vees downed the Prince George Spruce Kings 5-2 at the Coliseum. The game saw waves of offensive attack from both sides, but it was the Vees who made the better of those chances, putting in goals every way possible. The Vees scored a power play goal, a short handed goal, an even strength goal and an empty netter in the win tonight. But, it wasn't all Vees as the Spruce Kings did have moments of momentum, and came within inches of tying the game up. So, let's recap tonight's game between the Penticton Vees and the Prince George Spruce Kings
Period one was a back and forth affair that saw both teams generate chances, with Prince George getting the better of them. The 9-1 loss to the Vees was well documented coming into tonight, and if you thought that Prince George couldn't match the Vees in speed or talent, you were wrong. The 1st period definitely swayed in favour of the Spruce Kings as they lead 10-6 after one period. Both goalies made stellar saves as Thompson and Garteig started a sew saw match of anything that you can do, I can do better. One of the turning points may have came at the end of the first as Trevor Esau was ejected from the game for a check from the behind. This penalty left the Spruce Kings short handed heading into the 3rd.
The Vees had 1 minute worth a power play to take the lead, but they needed just just 27 seconds to do so. Joey Benik put home a back door feed from Connor Reily and Travis St. Dennis. The Vees didn't take long to add to their lead as Travis St. Dennis found the back of the net on a very weird goal. The assists went to his line mates Connor Reily and Mairo Lucia as the Vees snatched the momentum away quickly and swiftly. The rest of the period saw some more back and forth action, that featured a couple of key and brilliant saves from Garteig. The Spruce Kings were playing well, and although Penalties were hurting them, they were in the game, but still were behind the eight ball
The third period didn't start out any better for the Spruce Kings as Travis St. Dennis scored on a short handed break away attempt to put the Vees up by three. Prince George wasn't willing to go down without a fight though, as the Fitzgerald triplets combined for the Kings first goal. Myles was the goal scorer, while Leo and Gerry did the dirty work to set it up. It only took 1:32 for the Spruce Kings to make things very interesting as Paul De Jersey proved why he is one of the best offensive talents in the league, riffling a shot top shelf to bring the game within one. New comer Michael Colantone and Ben Woodley added the assists on the goal. Though just when it looked like the Spruce Kings were going to tie the game and change the course of the game, the Vees found a way to deflated the building as Mario Lucia put a wrist shot past Kirk Thompson. The goal turned out to be a killer and the final dagger in the Spruce Kings. Ryan Reilly would add an empty netter to seal the deal to bring the score to 5-2 in favour of the Vees
To see the full recap and box score of tonight's game, click here
Your three stars in tonight's contests
3) (Pen) Michael Garteig
2) (PG) Paul De Jesery
1) (Pen) Travis ST. Dennis
The score isn't necessarily a good indicator of how this game went. A quick look at the box score would indicate that the Vees handled the Spruce Kings, but that just isn't the case. The Kings played extremely well 5 on 5 against the Vees and it could even be argued that they were the better team 5 on 5. But, as talked about during the pre game, special teams were the difference, and it was the Vees who owned that part of the game. They scored a goal just about every you could, and took advantage of the bounces that went their way. The Spruce Kings, although they won't want to hear it, have some good things to use and move forward with going into tomorrow night/ If they can stay out of the box, and grab a hold of the positive bounces thrown their way, tomorrow can be a completely different game
Game two of this back to back Coliseum match up between the Vees and the Spruce Kings will go tomorrow night, with the puck dropping once again at 7pm. You can catch updates on our Facebook page and on our Twitter. We'll have the webcast on the BCHL Website as usual, and we'll also have the free Audio Feed Here
See you at the rink, or online
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