(Photo Courtesy: Vicki Brown, MyLight Sports Photography)
PRINCE GEORGE- One night removed from clinching the Interior Division, the Penticton Vees met up with the Prince George Spruce Kings Saturday night at Kopar Memorial Arena, going on to defeat the northern-most team in the BC Hocket League 4-1.
Despite a valiant effort from the Spruce Kings, they were unable to overcome the offensive power of the Vees, who took control of the game early on and never looked back.
Hank Levy started in goal on Saturday for the Vees. Through 60 minutes, he stopped 24 of 25 shots, earning his 12th win of the season. Levy remained undefeated with a 12-0 record. On the other side of the ice, Jordan Fairlie made the start in goal for the Spruce Kings where he was kept busy, stopping 24 of 28 shots.
Through the opening period, neither team was able to find the back of the net as the two sides entered the first intermission scoreless.
In the second period, Aydar Suniev carried the puck into the offensive zone from the right wing where he would skate to the top of the slot and buried the puck past Fairlie 1:42 into the second frame to give the Vees a 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, the Spruce Kings captain, Colton Cameron, was sent off for tripping and gave the Vees a man advantage. On the power play, Ryan Hopkins found Suniev at the top of the circle where he one-timed a shot past Fairlie to give the Vees a two-goal lead.
As the period was coming to a close, the Spruce Kings were given a power-play opportunity of their own inside the final minute of play. Forward Ty Gagno passed the puck to John Herrington, where the Spruce Kings all-star fired a shot in past Levy with five seconds left in the middle frame to get the Spruce Kings back within a goal. The goal goes down as Herrington’s 20th of the season.
At the beginning of the third, the Vees were awarded another powerplay opportunity. On the man advantage, Bradly Nadeau connected with his brother Josh, tapping the puck past Fairlie to give the Vees their two-goal lead back.
In the final stages of the third period, Josh Nadeau struck again, scoring his second goal of the night with help from his brother Bradly and Jackson Nieuwendyk. The goal capped the scoring for the night as the Vees sealed their 41st win of the season, taking a 4-1 win over Prince George.
Saturday marked the fifth and final regular-season meeting between the two sides as the Vees win the season series 4-1.
This loss would bring the Spruce King’s record down to 23-18-4-1. Meanwhile, Penticton’s record improves to 41-3-0-1.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Spruce Kings: Herrington
Vees: Suniev (2), J. Nadeau (2)
Goaltending
Spruce Kings: Jordan Fairlie (L) 60:00 (4GA, 24 saves)
Vees: Hank Levy (W) 60:00 (1GA, 24 saves)
Power-play
Spruce Kings: 1/6 (16%)
Vees: 2/3 (66%)
Shots
Spruce Kings: 25
Vees: 28
Next Game: Friday, March 3rd versus the Vernon Vipers at Kopar Memorial Arena in Prince George, BC.
