The Penticton Vees snapped a three-game skid as they handily beat the Vernon Vipers 6-1 at Kal Tire Place Friday night.
Vees forward Erik Benoit opened the scoring on the power play at 14:45 of the first. Benoit was set up by Brett Beauvais and Shane McColgan. The Vees added to their lead eight seconds later as Cody DePourcq struck to score his 16th goal of the season and his first in five games.
Vees defenceman Jarod Hilderman extended the lead to 3-0 with his first BCHL goal at 3:27 of the second. Chris Rygus setup Hilderman for his first junior A goal. Vipers forward Logan Mick dug into the Vees lead with his fourth goal of the season. The Vees didn’t wait long to respond and make it 4-1. McColgan scored his first goal with the Vees just over three minutes later when he finished off a feed from Benoit. Steen Cooper collected the other assist. DePourcq scored his second goal of the night on the power play to finish the scoring in the second. That signaled the end for Vipers goalie Austin Smith, who finished with 15 saves.
The Vees’ sixth goal came courtesy of Josh Blanchard, who got into the lineup with the suspension to Cam Amantea. Nic Pierog assisted on Blanchard’s third goal of the season. Blanchard has played in three games since returning from a lower body injury that kept him out of the lineup for two months.
Olivier Mantha made 31 saves for his 15th win. The Vees improve to 28 wins, 11 losses, two ties and four overtime losses. The Vees host the Trail Smoke Eaters at the South Okanagan Events Centre Saturday at 6 p.m.
