Scott Conway scored twice for the Penticton Vees, including the winner in 4-1 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors at Royal LePage Place Saturday night.
Also contributing to the Vees attack were Demico Hannoun and Tyson Jost helping the Vees to their third straight win. Anthony Brodeur earned his second straight win as he stopped 28 of 29 shots.
The Vees hit the scoreboard at 5:14 of the opening period when Easton Brodzinski and Dixon Bowen set up Hannoun. The veteran found himself behind the defence and tucked a backhand deke past the Warriors goalie Daniel Mannella. It was Hannoun’s first goal of the season.
The Warriors scored two minutes later on a power-play goal by Jonathan Desbiens. The deadlock lasted 18 seconds as Conway put the Vees up 2-1 with his first goal of the game. He was able to bury a rebound from a Dante Fabbro point shot. Conway then scored his fifth goal of the season on the power-play at 16:37 of the first.
In the second period, the Vees scored their second power-play goal when Jost, the Vees captain, picked a corner for his first goal of the season. The Vees power-play went two-for-four, while the Warriors struck once on four chances. Conway earned first star, Jost the second and Kylar Hope, third.
The Vees have won their last six games in West Kelowna dating back to last year’s regular season. All-time, since the Warriors moved from Langley to West Kelowna in 2006, the Vees are 22-9-0-5. Brodeur sports a .952 save-percentage in three games; he’s only allowed three goals in seven periods of action. Conway, after being held pointless in his debut, has seven points in his last three games, five of which are goals.
The Vees are off until Thursday, when they head to Chilliwack for the annual Bauer BCHL Showcase at Prospera Centre. The Vees face the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon, before facing the Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday night.
In other BCHL action from Saturday, Jeff Smith made 45 saves to earn first star in a Powell River Kings 4-3 road win over the Nanaimo Clippers. The Maple Ridge, who won the BCHL Top Goaltender Award in 2014, stopped all 15 Clips shots in the first and made 22 of 23 saves in the second period.
Scott Clark scored twice for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs to help them to a 3-2 home win over the Victoria Grizzlies. Clark opened the scoring just 1:17 into the first with PJ Conlon tying it for the Grizz late in the second. Clark notched his second tally in the final frame with Josh Adkins’ empty-netter being the winner.
In Salmon Arm, the Silverbacks went 4-for-7 on the man advantage, peppering Coquitlam Express netminder Tyger Howat with 62 shots in a 6-0 win. Carson Bolduc’s opener was the winner with Josh Blanchard and Matt Saharchuk scoring 16 seconds apart late in the first. Ross Heidt had both ‘Backs goals in the middle frame with Nick Hutchison rounding out the scoring in the third. Angus Redmond made 19 saves.
In Trail, the Smoke Eaters got goals from Connor Brown-Maloski, Cooper Leitch and Kurt Black 4:32 apart in the first on the way to a 5-3 win over the Merritt Centennials. After Kienan Scott made it 4-0 Smokies, the Cents reeled off three tallies with Colin Grannary, Nick Fiorentino and Nick Jermain doing the damage. Jake Kauppila iced it for Trail with a goal late in the second.
Justin Szeto converted a feed from Matthew Graham at 11:25 of the first and it wound up being the winner in a 5-0 Langley Rivermen win over the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings. Dominic Franco scored early in the second on the power play with Cameron Ginnetti, Justin Fregon and Zac Masson tallying in the third. Bo Didur made 10 saves for the shutout.
The Vernon Vipers were outshot 45-29 but got 42 saves from Jarrod Schamerhorn in an 8-3 home win over the Chilliwack Chiefs. Darren Rizzolo, Joe Cipollone and Riley Brandt put the Vipers up three by 5:10 of the first to chase Chiefs starter Aidan Pelino. Liam Finley made it 4-0 heading to the first intermission. It was 5-0 after another Brandt goal before Jesse Lansdell and Vimal Sukumaran got Chilliwack on the board. Odeen Tufto, Colton McCarthy and Steven Jandric added on in the third.
