Game Recap: Vees hit double digits in road win over Warriors
West Kelowna, B.C. – The Penticton Vees kicked off the month of October with an emphatic 10-3 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors, Saturday at Royal LePage Place.
The Vees are undefeated in their first four games and sit atop of the Interior Division standings. Penticton has outscored their opponents 30-6 in four games.
Saturday, the Vees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and led 3-1 after 20 minutes. Penticton scored three more times in the second, and tacked on another four goals in the third period to finish off the scoring.
Josh Nadeau had three assists in the win and was named the first star. Aydar Suniev and Dovar Tinling each had a pair of goals. Bradly Nadeau, Ethan Mann, Josh Niedermayer, Brett Moravec, and Ryan Hopkins all had two-point nights. Luca Di Pasquo picked up his fourth win in as many starts, as he stopped 18 of 21 shots.
Special teams were prevalent, as Penticton scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded.
Tinling, Jackson Nieuwendyk, and Billy Norcross scored in the first period, as Penticton jumped out to a 3-0 lead just over seven minutes into the game. Tinling opened the scoring at 2:56, followed by Nieuwendyk who made it 2-0 at 4:46, then it was Norcross at 7:17 to put Penticton ahead 3-0.
The Vees picked up in the second where they left off in the first. The Vees got a pair of goals from Suniev in the middle frame and another from Tinling to stretch the lead to 6-2 after two periods.
I wouldn’t wanna block that either, just saying
#BCHL | #PentictonVees pic.twitter.com/f2SNSzkcBP
— Penticton Vees (@PentictonVees) October 2, 2022
A key moment was Tinling’s shorthanded goal late in the second. West Kelowna had just scored, shorthanded, to cut the Vees lead to 4-2. Two minutes later, it was Tinling returning the favour, scoring shorthanded to put Penticton back up by three.
Suniev’s second goal of the period may be his nicest of the early season, as he danced through the West Kelowna defence before deking out the goalie to make it 6-2 with two minutes left.
In the final frame, Ben Brunette, and Frank Djurasevic each scored their first goals of the season. Then Hiroki Gojsic and Brett Moravec finished off the scoring for the visitors.
The Warriors starter Justin Katz was replaced by rookie Angelo Zol after the Vees’ seventh goal just 36 seconds in the third period. Katz stopped 21 of 28 shots, Zol six of nine.
The game got chippy in the third period, as seven penalties, three misconducts, and one game misconduct penalty was handed out. In the game, the Vees took 18 minutes in penalties, the Warriors 11.
GAME NOTES
Saturday was the first time the Vees have scored 10 goals in a game since March 27, 2022, against Merritt (10-2). Josh Nadeau leads the BCHL in scoring with 10 points (3G, 7A) in four games. Bradly is second with nine points (2G, 7A) and Josh Niedermayer is third with eight points (1G, 7A). In fact, six of the top eight scorers in the BCHL are Vees.
GAME STATS
Final Score: 10-3, Vees
Vees Scoring: Tinling (2), Suniev (2), Nieuwendyk, Norcross, Brunette, Djurasevic, Gojsic, Moravec
Shots: 37-21, Vees
Vees PP: 2/4
Vees PK: 7/8
Three Stars*
- Josh Nadeau (0G, 3A)
- Aydar Suniev (2G, 1A)
*The third star was awarded to former Warrior Parm Dhaliwal who was memorialized prior to puck drop in a pre-game ceremony. Dhaliwal passed away suddenly in July at the age of 23.
Penticton (4-0-0-0) returns to action Friday, October 7th against the Merritt Centennials (2-2-0-0) at the SOEC; puck drop is 7:00 pm. Tickets are available online at www.valleyfirsttix.com