Image Credit: Cherie Morgan Photography
November 30, 2014 - 11:38 AM
PENTICTON - It was looking so good for the Penticton Vees through forty-minutes but the last twenty did them in, as the West Kelowna Warriors rallied for a 4-3 Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Warriors scored four times in the third, erasing a 2-0 deficit and snapped the Vees seven-game win streak. West Kelowna came out on top after a frantic finish in the final three-minutes of the third period, which saw the two teams combine for three goals.
Brayden Gelsinger scored the game-winner with just thirty-six seconds left in regulation but the goal didn’t come without controversy. Gelsinger appeared to redirect a point-shot with a high-stick right in front of the Vees net. One referee initially waved-off the goal but after conferencing with the three other officials the call was reversed.
West Kelowna scored three straight goals in the third after trailing by a pair through two periods. Greyden Robinson got the Warriors on the scoreboard with a power-play marker at 5:51 and that goal seemed to turn the game in the Warriors favour.
Vees Head Coach Fred Harbinson told the Penticton Herald after the game it was an undisciplined penalty that unraveled them, “We take a ridiculous offensive zone penalty to open the door and then we just lost all regard for our own end of the ice.”
Kylar Hope brought the Warriors level a minute and a half after their first goal. Hope found the puck at the side of the net and quickly put a forehand up and over Miska’s shoulder at 7:23.
Then West Kelowna grabbed their first lead of the game with just over three-minutes left in the third. The Vees got caught up ice and Brett Mennear threw a pass to a streaking Jonathan Desbiens down the middle, who tipped it past Miska at 16:51.
Riley Alferd was quick to respond for the Vees, as he tied the game at three with a seeing-eye shot from the right-circle. Alferd came off the right-wing boards and put the shot through the legs of Andy Desautels at 18:20; his team-leading 17th.
The Vees appeared to have secured at least a single point before Brayden Gelsinger’s late-game heroics.
It was a pretty solid two periods from the Vees, as they picked up goals in the first and second to go ahead by two. Tyson Jost opened the scoring thirteen-minutes into the first when he rifled a shot from the right-wing under the arm of Desautels at 13:39.
Patrick Newell doubled the Vees lead late in the second on an abbreviated power-play. Just as the five-on-four kicked-in, Newell moved off the goal-line and snuck a shot underneath the pad of Desautels at 15:59; Newell extending his point streak to 15 games.
Final Score: 4-3 Warriors
Shots: 27-17 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 1-2 Warriors 1-3
Three Stars: 1) Pat Newell 2) Kylar Hope 3) Tyson Jost
The Vees only two losses at the SOEC this season have come at the hands of the Warriors; both games the Vees led after two periods. The Vees are now 23-4-0-1 after the loss and their lead atop of the Interior Division shrinks to 12 points over second place Vernon. The Vees were 8-3-0-1 in November.
Penticton is back in action on Wednesday, December 3rd, when they host the Trail Smoke Eaters at the SOEC; face-off is 7pm. It’s another Wicked Wednesday, as tickets for adults and seniors are just $5 and draft beer is just $3.50; fountain soft drinks $2.50.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014