Lewis Zerter-Gossage’s 18th goal of the season was not only a beauty, it was a big one for the Penticton Vees against the Vernon Vipers Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
He snapped a 12-game goal drought when he buried his backhand deke past Danny Todosychuk to give the Vees a 3-2 win. It was his fourth game-winning tally of the season.
“That was ridiculous. The kid has some nasty hands,” said Vees goalie Hunter Miska.
The goal came after the crowd of 3.326 started chanting “Go Vees Go” and five minutes after Anthony Latina took advantage of a turnover in the Vees’ zone to tie the game at two.
The Vees opened the scoring at 19:35 of the first period when Tyson Jost beat Todosychuk with a shot to his stick side after taking advantage of open space to skate in closer. Dakota Conroy made it 2-0 with his 13th goal of the season as he tapped in a loose puck at the side of the net as he was camped in front of Todosychuk.
Along with Latina’s goal, Thomas Aldworth got the Vipers on the scoresheet with a blast from inside the blue line.
The Vees improved to 43-9-3-2 on the season with the win.
“I felt like we played unreal. We had a great week of practice,” said Miska, who stopped 24 of 26 with his new set of pads.
Miska added it was a huge win as they enter the playoffs.
Vees defenceman Mike Lee collected two assists , while Steen Cooper, Patrick Newell, Gabe Bast and Dante Fabbro each picked up one assist. Lee leads the Vees with 33 assists
On special teams, the Vees were 0-for-6, while the Vipers went 1-for-5. Penticton finished with a 6-1 record over the Vipers this season.
In other BCHL action, the Merritt Centennials dumped the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 5-1. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Centennials, leaving the Silverbacks and West Kelowna Warriors to fight over the final berth. The Powell River Kings walked over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 8-2, the Prince George Spruce Kings defeated the Langley Rivermen 5-3, the Chilliwack Chiefs earned a 5-2 win over the Coquitlam Express and the Victoria Grizzlies needed overtime to defeat the Nanaimo Clippers 4-3.
