Photo Credit: Dale Fletcher
The Cranbrook Bucks capped off a busy weekend with a great effort against the BCHL’s top team on Sunday afternoon. The Bucks made it a close game, but the Penticton Vees were able to hang on for a narrow, 5-4 come-from-behind victory.
The Bucks surprised Penticton with an early first period goal. Cranbrook’s Johnny Johnson took a swipe at a loose puck near the Vees net and batted in his 17th goal of the season to give the Bucks a 1-0 lead at 1:13. Cranbrook was able to hold off Penticton’s attempts to tie the game through the first half of the period, and they were rewarded for their efforts shortly after the media timeout. Kellan Hjartarson finished off a 2-on-1 rush after taking a perfect pass from Cam Kungle to extend Cranbrook’s lead to 2-0 with less than nine-minutes left in the first period. The Bucks continued an impressive offensive display late in the opening frame on a power play – Liam Hansson took a pass from Noah Quinn off the back boards and tallied on a one-timer at 19:56, vaulting Cranbrook to a 3-0 lead to begin the second period.
Penticton hit the reset button to start the second period. The Vees began the middle frame with an early power play, and they made use of the extra room on the surface to spur a rush into Bucks territory – Josh Nadeau finished off the sequence to cut Cranbrook’s lead down to 3-1, exactly one-minute into second period action. Penticton’s comeback bid took another leap forward two-minutes later. Vees forward Luc Wilson fired a backhand shot toward the Cranbrook goal and beat Bucks goalie Evan Gartner through traffic, and suddenly Cranbrook’s lead had shrunk to 3-2. The Vees tied the game before the midway mark of the second period. Penticton forward Ethan Mann caught a rebound deep in Bucks territory and shot the puck into an empty goal – Cranbrook goalie Evan Gartner appeared to have made the save of the season, but a video review showed that the puck had crossed the goal line before it was caught in Gartner’s glove. Gartner’s save was overruled, and the Vees had erased Cranbrook’s 3-0 lead to tie the game 3-3. The Vees managed to take the lead near the twelve-minute mark, Bradly Nadeau was well-positioned to redirect a Mason Poolman point blast and Penticton led 4-3. The pendulum was swinging in Penticton’s favour after forty minutes, with the Vees maintained their one-goal lead to start the third period.
The teeter-totter matchup continued early in the third period, the Bucks squared up with Penticton at 2:24. Jaden Fodchuk found a loose puck deep in Vees territory, and he slid it past Penticton goalie Kaeden Lane to tie the game 4-4. Cranbrook’s lead wouldn’t last long, the Vees were able to retake the lead on a double-minor power play off a blue line blast into traffic from Braden Doyle, restoring a one-goal Penticton lead at 5-4. Evan Gartner made plenty of great saves in the dying minutes to give Cranbrook a chance to tie the game, but the Vees managed to hang on to their lead through the final buzzer and earned a 5-4 win – stopping Cranbrook’s winning streak at three games.
Sunday’s loss drops Cranbrook’s record to 22-17-2-2. Cranbrook’s power play finished 1/3, their penalty kill finished 3/5. The Bucks benefited from a great showing from Evan Gartner in the Cranbrook crease, he stopped 43 of 48 Vees shots, the Bucks fired 21 shots on the Penticton goal.
Cranbrook finally returns home for their next game, after five straight road games over the last two weeks. They’ll welcome the Wenatchee Wild for a double-header for their final two games of the month on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26.
Buck Tracks:
- Jaden Fodchuk scores his first BCHL goal.
- 1 assist for Noah Quinn (14 points through current 9 game point streak).
- 3 assists for Cam Kungle (1st career multi point game).
- 3-2 record for Cranbrook through five straight road games over the last two weekends.
