WEST KELOWNA – The Penticton Vees mastery of the West Kelowna Warriors continued Tuesday night, as they rode a strong special teams performance en route to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at Royal LePage Place.

The win is the Vees third in as many games against the Warriors this season and moves them into first place in the Interior Division, one point ahead of the Vernon Vipers.

It was “Rock the House” night at the RLP and the Warriors Jordan Masters got the place rocking three and a half minutes into the first. Masters knocked down a point-shot and quickly put the rebound up and over a surprised Hunter Miska at 3:36.

Less than three minutes later, Masters was at it again, doubling the Warriors lead right off a face-off in the Vees zone. Seb Lloyd won the draw and pushed the puck into the slot from the left-circle for Masters, who slipped by his check and beat Miska with a quick deke at 6:18.

Things didn’t get any better for the Vees, as minutes after the second Warriors goal, they ran into penalty trouble, handing the home team a lengthy five-on-three power-play. However, the penalty-kill sequence turned out to be a turning point in the game for the Vees , as they turned aside the Warriors power-play opportunity.

The Vees turned the momentum from the penalty-kill into a power-play of their own just four minutes later. During that power-play, late in the first period, Brett Beauvais made a nice past to setup Paul Stoykewych at 17:26; the Warriors lead shaved down to one. Beauvais moved down to the left goal-line before throwing the puck across the zone to Stoykewych in the right-circle. Stoykewych’s well-placed wrist-shot got through a crowd and snuck underneath the arm of Andy Desautels; Stoykewych scoring his first since October 18th, which also came against West Kelowna.

Instead of potentially going down by three into the intermission, the Vees were only down a goal going into the break after that late Stoykewych power-play marker.

The Vees power-play flexed its muscle again midway through the second period to level the game at two’s. The puck was worked back up to the blue-line where Beauvais fed it across to an awaiting Ben Dalpe on the right side. The forward leaned into a shot that beat Desautels up high on the glove side at 9:56; Dalpe’s eighth of the season and first in ten games.

They weren’t satisfied with the tie, as Penticton had had two great opportunities to grab their first lead. Matt Serratore was denied on a great individual effort coming down the right-wing, as he dangled around the defender before trying to jam the puck past the pad of Desautels. Later, Cam Amantea was thwarted on a late-breaking odd-man rush in the Warriors end. Desautels came across to his right to get a piece on the Amantea bid.

The Vees cranked up the pressure in the second, firing sixteen shots at the Warriors net, while Hunter Miska had to only face a pair of shots; the teams tied at two’s after two.

Persistence paid off in the early moments of the third period when the Vees Captain put his team ahead for the first time on the night. Anthony Conti made a nice breakout pass in the neutral zone to McClure, who went one-on-one with the Warriors defenseman on the left-wing. McClure went wide and got past the rear-guard before snapping a shot from the bottom of the circle between Andy Desautels and the post; McClure burring his team-leading eighteenth of the season at 2:28.

The Vees wouldn’t surrender their only lead of the game, as they killed-off a fifth Warriors power-play midway through the third and then denied them of an equalizer when they had the net empty.

FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Vees

Shots: 35-24 Vees

Power-Plays: Vees 2-4 Warriors 0-5

Three Stars: 1) Jordan Masters 2) Brad McClure 3) Paul Stoykewych

The Vees improve their record to 16-6-1-3 and their road record to 7-5-1-1 in the win. Their record versus the Interior Division bumps moves to 8-3-0-1 and they’re now a perfect 3-0 against the Warriors this season; winning both games at Royal LePage Place. The Vees have now won twenty-three of their last twenty six games against West Kelowna. Brad McClure led the Vees in scoring with a goal and two points; unofficially Brett Beauvais chipped in with two assists (not credited with an assist on the Vees second goal).

The Vees have a couple days off before they’re back home at the SOEC on Friday, November 29th, when the host the Langley Rivermen; puck drop is 7pm. The Rivermen are second in the Mainland Division and tied the Vees 1-1 back on October 19th in Langley. The Vees are offering a family pack special for both games this weekend, as fans can enjoy a pop, popcorn and hotdog for just $5.50. Tickets are available at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC, or online at www.valleyfristtix.com

News from © iNFOnews, 2013