The Interior Conference-leading Penticton Vees came as advertised in their first visit to Western Financial Place for a Sunday matinee matchup versus the Cranbrook Bucks.
The first period brought entertaining back and forth action. Both teams traded power plays, but each side failed to tally. The Vees were able to find the goal first, captain Fin Williams placed a perfect wrist shot over the shoulder of Bucks goalie Evan Gartner at 12:38 to lift Penticton to a 1-0 lead. Cranbrook was able to reply in short order. Jarrod Smith put some nifty moves on display deep in the Penticton zone to bury a backhander past Vees goalie Kaeden Lane at 13:22. The game shifted to the second period at a 1-1 tie.
Penticton found their legs in the second period. Vees leading scorer Luc Wilson struck first to lift his team to a 2-1 lead after he picked the short side top corner on the Cranbrook net at 7:22. The road team followed with a power play blast from Mason Poolman at 10:43 and from a solo rush by Casey MacDonald to put Penticton in a 4-1 lead after forty minutes.
The Vees kept a lead foot on the gas pedal in the third period. Josh Nadeau earned his tenth goal of the season at 2:09 of the final frame. With the game out of reach for the Bucks, Penticton added goals from Frank Djurasevic and another power play goal from a Thomas Pichette one-timer. The Vees kept Cranbrook from chipping away at their lead, and ended their first visit to Western Financial Place with a 7-1 victory.
The Bucks were outshot 38-30, and finished 0/2 on the power play. Cranbrook’s record falls to 8-6-1 with Sunday’s loss.
Cranbrook will head to the road for their next three games. They face the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday, Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday and the Surrey Eagles on Sunday.
Buck Tracks:
- Sunday’s game was goalie Evan Gartner’s first start at Western Financial Place.
- Tyson Dyck point streak ends at 7 games.
- Home record falls to 5-3-1
