Photo: Cherie Morgan
PENTICTON, B.C. – If you bought a ticket to Saturday’s game at the SOEC, you certainly got your money’s worth. The Penticton Vees erased four, one-goal deficits on their way to a 6-4 comeback win over the Vipers.
Despite playing with just 10 forward for the majority of Saturday’s game, the Vees found a way to win for the fifth time in their last six games. Penticton took back sole possession of second place in the Interior, moving in front of idle Salmon Arm.
Saturday’s win had a bit of everything. Max Heise recorded his first hat-trick of the season and second of his career. Anselmo Rego scored on a penalty shot in the first period, and Ryden Evers scored shorthanded in the third.
The Vees scored in every way imaginable against Vernon. Rego scored on a penalty shot, Heise scored on the power play and into an empty net, and Ryden Evers shorthanded.
Heise (3-0-3) and Evers (1-2-3) were the only two Vees to have recorded three points in the win.
Ethan Buenaventura picked up his second win as many starts, as he turned aside 20 of 24 shots.
The first period was eventful to say the least. The two teams combined for six goals on just 21 combined shots, as the game was tied 3-3 after 20 minutes.
Vernon opened the scoring at 2:56 as Will Schumacher put the Vipers ahead 1-0 from the face-off circle.
Heise equalized not even a minute later, as he scored his first of three on the night to tie the game 1-1. Heise’s goal came just 52 seconds after Vernon had opened the scoring. Eli McKamey intercepted a pass at the side of the net, then fed Heise for the one-timer at 3:48.
The Vipers retook the lead at 7:14 after Jordan Gudridge’s point shot found its way through a maze of bodies and passed Buenaventura. Gudridge’s goal was his first with Vernon and put Penticton ahead 2-1.
Heise was at it again in the first, as he tied the game at 2-2 on his power play goal at 13:19. The second year forward squeezed his shot through the arm of Vernon’s Marko Bilic.
Vernon grabbed their third lead of the first when Noah Grolnic was credited with his second of the season. Grolnic, who was acquired by Vernon from Cowichan Valley, recently, had his teammate’s pass from the corner go off his skate and in at 18:28. The lead lasted all of 32 seconds.
Rego was awarded a penalty on the next shift after Vernon went ahead 3-2. Rego’s penalty shot goal at 19:00 tied the game 3-3.
The Vipers scored the only goal of the second period on the power play as Charlie Kresl put Vernon ahead 4-3 at 8:52. That goal didn’t come without controversy, as the Vees thought they had gone ahead minutes earlier.
Forward Louie Wehmann thought he had scored on a Vees’ power play at 5:44, but after review, his goal was waved off. Not only was his goal disallowed, but Wehmann, was guilty of a four-minute high sticking penalty.
Down 4-3 to start the third, the Vees scored twice in the first two and a half minutes to take a 5-4 lead. Evers tied the game with his shorthanded goal 44 seconds into the final frame. Evers capitalized on a Vernon giveaway, as he found a loose puck in the slot and scored blocker side.
Then, Landon Wright was credited with the game-winner at the three-minute mark. Zach Nyman’s shot went off the goalie’s pad, back out front, then off the leg of Wright, and past Vernon goaltender Marko Bilic. Wright was credited with his ninth.
Heise picked up his hat-trick with just 41 seconds left in the game, as he scored into an empty net to make it 6-4.
Vees’ Captain Conyr Hellyer was hurt in the first period and did not return; the Vees finished the game with just 10 forwards.
Penticton is now 3-0 against Vernon this season. In each of those three wins, the Vees had trailed going into the third period against the Vipers.
GAME STATS
Shots: Vees- 38 Vipers-24
Scoring: Max Heise (10, 11, 12), Anselmo Rego (8), Ryden Evers (9), Landon Wright (9)
Goaltending: Ethan Buenaventura (W) 20/24, 60:00
Vees Power-Play: 1/3
Vees Penalty-Kill: 2/3
Three Stars:
Attendance: 3,284
Up Next: The Vees (16-5-0-0) hit the road for three games in four nights next week, starting Thursday, November 28th, against the Langley Rivermen (10-7-4-1), at George Preston Arena.
