It was a phenomenal hockey game from start to finish, but it was Jay O’Brien and the Penticton Vees defeating the Prince George Spruce Kings 4-3 in overtime.
In the opening frame, both teams seemed to feel each other out, as there was not a whole lot of scoring chances early on. The Spruce Kings headed to the man advantage late in the frame, and Nick Poisson got the puck on his tape just above the circle and fired it past Derek Krall to put the Spruce Kings up 1-0 late in the opening frame.
In the second period, Vees forward Vincent Nardone took a four-minute high sticking penalty to give the Spruce Kings a big power play, however, it did not pan out that way. The Vees scored two shorthanded goals coming from Colton Kazelic and Jack Barnes as they scored two and a half minutes apart to give the Vees the lead. After several PG chances after the two Vees goals, Preston Brodziak jammed home the loose change to tie the game up at two.
All knotted up at two’s heading into the third period, and Danny Weight changed that in a hurry. Weight skated the puck into the attacking zone and put the puck past Jack McGovern to give the Vees the lead at 2:22 of the third. The Weight goal was Penticton’s only shot of the period. The Spruce Kings threatened for a good portion of the third and ended up getting rewarded. With the extra attacker out, Chong Min Lee fired home a one timer to tie the game up at three with under two minutes to play.
60 minutes was not enough, off to overtime. Evan Orr had a great chance a minute and a half into the period, but Derek Krall made a great stop to keep the game tied. It was then the Philadelphia Flyers first round pick Jay O’Brien who took the puck end to end and slid it past McGovern and give the Vees their fourth win of the season.
Next up for the Spruce Kings, is a three game road trip in the lower mainland against the Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday, the Langley Rivermen on Saturday, and a Sunday matinee with the Coquitlam Express.
For any questions, contact the office at 250-564-1747.
