Image Credit: Cherie Morgan Photography
November 02, 2014 - 9:17 AM
PENTICTON - Saturday’s game was far different than Friday but the result was the same. The Penticton Vees rode a hot power-play as they extinguished the Trail Smoke Eaters 6-2 at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Saturday night.
The win is the Vees thirteenth straight and they bump up their record to 16-1-0-0 on the season; now 8-0-0-0 at home.
Saturday provided to be quite a bit more challenging for the Vees than their last two outings against Surrey, as the Smoke Eaters were more than a handful. Trail did something that the Vees previous five opponents couldn’t do and that was score first.
Trail’s Scott Davidson was first to his own rebound in the middle of the Vees zone and he wired the puck over Hunter Miska’s glove at 7:14. The Victoria Grizzlies were the last team to get the jump on the Vees and that was back on October 18th.
The Vees power-play, which manufactured three goals on the night, tied the game midway through the first. Gabe Bast had a quick trigger from the blue-line and the puck glanced off Cody DePourcq’s leg and past Adam Todd at 11:41.
Penticton used the man-advantage to grab their first lead of the game in the opening minutes of the second. Patrick Newell moved down the right-wing and cut to the Trail net. Newell couldn’t pull the trigger but the puck was inadvertently poked in by Trail’s Jake Lucchini. Newell got credit for his fourth at 1:10.
DePourcq added to the Vees lead minutes later when he bagged his second on a Trail turnover at the Smoke Eaters blue-line. Mitch Newsome intercepted a clearing attempt and DePourcq broke to the net from the left-wing, before going over the glove of Todd at 4:05; two goals in just under three minutes.
Hannoun padded the lead later in the sandwich stanza as he showed a burst of speed. Hannoun turned inside the Trail end from the neutral zone, cut down the left-wing and put a backhand over Todd on the short-side at 14:03.
Charlie Zuccarini gave the visitors some life late in the second on a Trail power-play. Zuccarini, from behind the goal-line, managed to force the puck between Miska and the post at 19:48.
Riley Alferd gave the Vees some breathing room eight-minutes into the third. Alferd drove the net and smacked in a Matt Serratore rebound past Todd’s blocker at 8:11.
As the saying goes, when you’re hot you’re hot and Alferd proved it on his second goal of the third. As Serratore cut to the middle of the Trail zone, Alferd moved to the side of the net and as he did, Serratore’s wrist-shot deflected off his shin and past Todd at 16:01. The power-play marker was Alferd’s twelfth which moved him into a tie for the team goal-scoring lead.
Final Score: 6-2
Shots: 33-26
Power-Plays: Vees 3-6 Smoke Eaters 1-2
Three Stars: 1) Cody DePourcq 2) Riley Alferd 3) Charlie Zuccarini
Attendance: 2,044
The Vees record against their own division improves to 10-1-0-0; they’re 2-0-0 against Trail. Riley Alferd now has six goals during his four-game goal-streak. Matt Serratore has three goals and eight points in his last four games. Hunter Miska was named the BCHL Player of Month for October before Saturday’s game. Miska was 9-0-0 in October, with a 1.08 goals-against average and owned a .959 save-percentage; he had three shutouts too.
The Vees are back in action on Wednesday, November 5th, as they seek their fourteenth straight win, when they host the West Kelowna Warriors at the SOEC; puck drop is 7pm.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014