Black Press Sports
The Interior Division champion Penticton Vees were looking to put the Chilliwack Chiefs on life support Tuesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Former Vernon Viper Demico Hannoun scored with 8:31 to go in sudden-death overtime as the Vees clipped the Chiefs 4-3 Sunday night before 2,489 fans at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
Chilliwack lost 7-3 to the Clippers Friday night in Nanaimo. A loss in Penticton, where the Vees very rarely lose, will mean the Chiefs will need Nanaimo to stop the visiting Vees Thursday night.
Chilliwack would then need to beat the Clippers Saturday at home to finish the double round-robin series at 1-3. The teams would battle in an extra playoff tilt next Monday in Nanaimo.
Patrick Newell collected a loose puck behind the Chilliwack net and fed a quick pass in front, where Hannoun bang-banged it past David Jacobson.
Hannoun forced OT on a powerplay with Chilliwack’s top penalty killing d-man and captain Eric Roberts flagged for roughing.
Seconds after playoff scoring king Jake Hand whiffed on a two-on-one shorthanded rush, missing a glorious chance for an insurance goal, the Vees stormed the Chilliwack net. The puck stayed out, barely, but Jacobson was down. Clutching his head, the netminder stayed on the ice for nearly two minutes.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief when he stayed in the game. But with 19 seconds left in their power play, Hannoun burned Jacobson with an extremely sharp angled shot with 2:09 left.
Penticton opened the scoring just 1:41 in with Matthew Serratore pulling the trigger. Left uncovered by the Chilliwack defence, the future Air Force Academy Falcon took a cross-ice pass from Riley Alferd and fired a shot on goal.
Jacobson stretched out with his right leg to rob Serratore, but couldn’t stop the rebound as the 20-year old notched his fifth of the playoffs.
Chilliwack came roaring back at 10:40. Rory Bell put the puck on net from the point, and Penticton goalie Hunter Miska left a rebound rattling around the goal-mouth. Bennett Morrison swooped in and hammered it home for his second of the postseason.
The Vees regained the lead at 13:37. Blueliner Gabe Bast started the play, flinging the puck on net from the point. Jacobson couldn’t find the disc before Connor Chartier dug away at the right post and poked the puck across the line for his eighth of the playoffs.
But the Chiefs battled back once more, knotting the score with 3:47 to go in period one.
Charging down the right wing, Bell muscled past Vees’ d-man Patrick Sexton and one-armed a pass into the goal-mouth, where Hand popped it past Miska for his eighth of the playoffs.
Referees Tyler Hawthorne and Mark Pierce waited 38 minutes to hand out the first power play, giving Penticton two minors in 57 seconds late in the middle frame to set up a Chilliwack 5-on-3.
First, Dante Fabbro was banished for high sticking Jordan Kawaguchi. Then, Jarod Hilderman took two for tripping.
Needing to cash in, Morrison took a cross-ice feed from Tipper Higgins, and from the right faceoff dot, lazered a shot over Miska’s glove. His second of the game, with just 26 seconds on the clock, sent the Chiefs to the third with a 3-2 lead.
Gare jumpstarts Frankfurt playoff run
Vernon’s Lanny Gare scored once in three of four games as the Frankfurt Lions swept the Ravensburg Towerstars in Round 1 of the DEL-2 league playoffs in Germany.
Gare, a 36-year-old father of a two-year-old girl, pocketed 13 goals and 37 points in 46 regular-season games. This is his sixth season in Germany.
The Lions placed fourth in the regular campaign, while the Towerstars were fifth. Frankfurt now takes on the second place Fischtown Pinguins.
Gare boosted the Vernon Vipers to the 1999 Royal Bank Cup title in Melfort, Sask. The flashy centre produced 111 points and went on to spend four years with the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. He played four seasons in the minors, ringing up 55 points with the ECHL Victoria Salmon Kings in the 2005-06 season.
Ex-Viper Ken Magowan started the season in Frankfurt, racking up 17 points in 17 games before departing.
