Mat Robson turned aside 33 shots and Duncan Campbell tapped in the winner as the Penticton Vees bounced the Wenatchee Wild 2-0 Saturday in BCHL action at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Wild had their chances, but Robson and his defence was simply better as he earned his fourth shutout and improved the Vees to 37-12-2-1.
“We didn’t give them a lot of time with the puck. They made my job real easy tonight. They cleared out some rebounds in there,” said Robson. “I’m going to go in there and probably give a kiss on the cheek to every one of our penalty killers tonight (five-for-five on PK). They played a hell of a game.”
Robson said that was a tilt between two great teams.
“You got to nod their heads to them, they have a great team,” he said. “It was a great battle.”
The Vees were outshot in the opening frame 11-5, but they also had to kill off a two-man advantage in the final three minutes. The Vees got on the board with their power play. Jonny Tychonick had the puck near the point and fed it low to Nicholas Jones at the side. The Vees captain was able to thread a pass through the crease to Campbell, who tapped in his ninth of the season. Jones then delivered what would be a final blow to the Wild in the third period when Chris Klack sprung him for a breakaway at 7:55 as he used great stick handling moves to beat Anthony Yamnitsky with a backhand deke tucking the shot between the skate and the post.
Wenatchee Wild goalie Anthony Yamnitsky keeps a close eye on the puck during the first period against the Penticton Vees at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Kristi Patton/Western News
When asked what it was like playing in the speedy and physical affair, Robson said it was fun.
“We knew based on the last time we played them it was going to be fun game,” said Robson, who was surrounded by his teammates who couldn’t jump over the boards fast enough to reach him and celebrate. “We’ve been looking forward to getting back at these guys for a while. Those are the fun ones right. That’s playoff type hockey. The fans (attendance was 4,142 including a small group of Wild fans) here at the SOEC were loud the whole time. I had goose bumps. They really helped us push forward. It was a blast out there.”
READ MORE: Penticton Vees lose battle of the top two teams in BCHL
The loss dropped the Wild to 39-9-4-0. Their top scorer Charlie Combs said it was a tough one.
“We got two very good teams battling and just coming out with the short end, it hurts. It really hurts,” said Combs, a Bemdji State commit.
