Zach Driscoll stopped 28 shots to help the Penticton Vees shutout the Vernon Vipers 3-0 Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The win is the Vees’ fifth straight.
After a scoreless opening period, Dante Fabbro and Scott Conway set up Easton Brodziski for his BCHL-best 13th power-play goal at 13:20 of the second period. Conway added to the Vees’ lead, beating Andrew Shortridge, who finished with 42 saves, for his 24th of the season and finished with three points. Four minutes after Conway scored, Nicholas Jones found the back of the net in his fourth straight game.
Conway finished with three points, while Tyson Jost had a two-assist performance. A crowd of 2,109 attended the game.
Conway and Jost extended their point streaks to 23 and 17 games respectively. Driscoll now has two shutouts on the season and his .941 save percentage is tops in the BCHL. Nic Jones now has nine points in his last four games. The Vees are now 16-0-0 at home and have won 20 straight regular season games at the SOEC, dating back to February of last season.
Jost and Fabbro now leave for Canada West camp in Leduc, Alta. for the 2015 World Junior A Challenge; the tournament runs December 13-19 in Cobourg and Whitby, Ont.
In other BCHL action Friday, Patrick Geary scored twice at the end of the first period as the Cowichan Valley Capitals defeated the West Kelowna Warriors 6-4 on the road. Storm Phaneuf made 43 saves to earn the win.
Bailey MacBurnie made 24 saves, including 12 in the first period, for his first BCHL shutout while Kienan Scott had the only goal in a Trail Smoke Eaters 1-0 win over the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The game remained scoreless until Scott’s shorthanded tally at 8:33 of the third.
All the scoring was done in the second period in a Wenatchee Wild 2-1 home win over the Surrey Eagles. After Mike Coyne opened the scoring for the Wild, Kurt Black tied it for Surrey but Kyle Stephan’s goal on the man advantage was the winner. Justin Laforest made 42 saves in a losing effort while Garrett Nieto made 24 for Wenatchee.
Matthew Hoover scored a natural hat trick in a four-goal night leading the Nanaimo Clippers to a 5-2 road win over the Prince George Spruce Kings. Hoover potted his first two in the opening frame after Parker Colley had opened the scoring for the Spruce Kings. It was just 19 seconds into the second that Hoover completed his feat but Kyle Johnson brought the Spruce Kings back within one heading to the third. Hoover got his fourth in the final frame with Chris Dodero adding the other.
Jordan Kawaguchi scored a hat trick to lead the Chilliwack Chiefs in a 9-4 comeback win over the visiting Coquitlam Express. Eric Udahl and Jack Surowiec scored 1:03 apart early in the first but Kawaguchi got both back followed by Zach Giuttari and Kale Kane. Kawaguch completed his hat trick with the game-winner 53 seconds into the second with Kane and Vimal Sukumaran adding Chiefs goals as well. Darien Craighead and Jake Smith tallied in the third. Owen Stout and Colton Kerfoot had the other Express goals.
-written with files from Fraser Rodgers.
