Submitted by Fraser Rodgers
The Penticton Vees power play punished an undisciplined Langley Rivermen team, as they scored three times with the man-advantage en route to a 6-0 win at the Langley Events Centre Friday.
It’s the sixth straight win for the Vees and their second in nine days against the Rivermen, with the Vees sweeping the two-game season series.
Mile Gendron opened the scoring in the first period when he skated in off the right wing and wired a wrist shot past starter Bo Didur at 3:12; Gendron’s third tally and first since Halloween night.
Langley ran into penalty trouble in the first as they handed the Vees four power plays in the opening 20 minutes. The Vees finally capitalized on the fourth chance. Riley Alferd pushed the face off towards the net and Jack Ramsey, from his knees, forced the puck through Didur with three-tenths of a second left on the clock.
Didur was replaced by Darren Martin to start the second but the change didn’t slow the Vees. Just after a Vees penalty expired, Dakota Conroy forced a turnover at centre and fed Patrick Newell. The speedy winger broke into the Langley zone on a two-on-zero rush with Connor Chartier. Newell slid the puck over to Chartier, who quickly went forehand-backhand for his second at 11:32.
The Vees power play flexed its muscle in the third when Langley ran into more penalty problems. With two Rivermen in the box, the Vees scored twice in a 56-second span. First, Conroy tipped-in a one-touch pass from Demico Hannoun from the corner at 6:41 to make it 4-0, then Ramsey one-timed the puck from the left circle which snuck inside the post at 7:37.
Cam Amantea put the finishing touches on the win, scoring the sixth and final goal in the dying moments of the game. Amantea kept the puck on a two-on-one rush and went five-hole on Martin at 19:45 for his fourth.
The Vees are now 23-3-0-1 and remain 14 points ahead of second-place Vernon who kept pace with a 7-5 win in Salmon Arm. Newell extended his BCHL-best point streak to 14 games with his second-period assist. Brendan Barry picked up his second career BCHL shutout, stopping all 24 shots he faced. He’s now a perfect 8-0-0. The Vees are a perfect 6-0-0 against the Mainland Division. Prior to the game, Gabe Bast, Dante Fabbro, Gendron, Hannoun and Tyson Jost were five of 25 BCHL players invited to Canada West camp for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge.
Tonight, the Vees host the West Kelowna Warriors at the South Okanagan Events Centre at 6 p.m. West Kelowna dropped a 3-1 decision in Trail Friday, but snapped the Vees 13-game win streak back on Nov. 5 with a 3-2 win at the SOEC.
