A weekend road trip for the Cranbrook Bucks is off to a sunny start after an entertaining shootout win over the Vernon Vipers in the Okanagan Friday night.
Both teams had plenty of chances through the first twenty minutes, the Vipers outshot Cranbrook 14-11. Vernon’s Anson McMaster gave his club a 1-0 lead at the 12:50 mark. The Bucks squared up 1-1 at 17:00 when Kellan Hjartarson converted on a giveaway in the Vernon zone. A Vipers power play goal from Reagan Milburn put Vernon back in the lead at 2-1 with twenty-eight seconds left in the opening frame. Cranbrook trailed by one goal at intermission.
The Bucks found their collective mojo in the second period with a four-goal outburst. The Bucks tied the game 2-2 just shy of the five-minute barrier via a tip-in from Hjartarson, his second tally of the night. A Noah Quinn power play goal made it 3-2 Bucks at 12:55. Cranbrook added two quick goals from Nick Peluso and Cam Kungle to bring a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead into the third period.
The home team wasn’t ready to go down without a fight, despite trailing by three goals to start the final frame. Cranbrook appeared to have the game on ice, but the Vipers were able to strike with goals from Isaac Tremblay and Luke Pakulk just twenty-four seconds apart to make it a 5-4 hockey game. A late power play proved fortuitous for Vernon, Seiya Tanaka-Campbell scored with less than one-minute in regulation to erase the Vipers’ three-goal deficit and forced the game to overtime at a 5-5 tie.
Both teams had their chances through 3-on-3 overtime, but goalies Carter Capton and Ethan David were able to lock it down in the extra frame. This signaled a shootout to decide the winner.
Cranbrook got shootout goals from Jack Silich and Nick Peluso to walk out of Vernon with a 6-5 victory.
Friday’s win puts Cranbrook’s record at 12-7-1. The Bucks outshot Vernon 38-32. On special teams, Cranbrook’s power play was 1/3 while their penalty-kill finished 3/4.
The Bucks continue their road trip Saturday night in Salmon Arm versus the Silverbacks.
Buck Tracks:
- 1 assist for Donovan Frias to extend point streak to 7 games.
- 1 goal and 1 assist for Noah Quinn, 7 points through last 4 games.
- BCHL debut for Kaslo Ferner.
