Kamloops Blazers at Penticton Vees 12/06 | WHL Highlights 2025-26

By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X

The Kamloops Blazers headed off to Penticton for their first matchup at the South Okanagan Events Centre Saturday night.

The Vees applied heavy pressure through the first couple minutes of the first period as Ivans Kufterins stayed sharp, making key saves. Nathan Behm nearly converted on a wraparound attempt, only to be denied by a strong pad stop from Andrew Reyelts. The Vees quickly countered with a high-danger look of their own, but Kufterins once again stood tall.

The second frame started with the Blazers applying pressure right away, which included a great chance from Cooper Moore who found himself on a breakaway but couldn’t beat Reyelts. Despite Kamloops generating early momentum, it was Penticton who broke the deadlock. Brooks DeMars snapped a shot past Kufterins for the Teddy Bear Toss goal.

DeMars and Behm would then find themselves in a wrestling match after a hard hit, sparking some energy for both teams. Kamloops came close to an equalizer on a powerplay shortly after. J.P. Hurlbert danced through the Vees’ defense with a move and nearly tucked in a wraparound, but Reyelts managed to get a pad on it.

Kufterins was kept busy throughout the opening four minutes of the third frame, making big stops on Jack Kvasnicka and DeMars. Kamloops picked up a powerplay, their fourth of the evening, and had great looks from Kayd Ruedig and Josh Evaschesen, but Reyelts came up with big stops.

The Vees would find themselves on a 3-on-1 but Kufterins would come up with a blocker save. The Blazers would then strike, Owen Cooper was net front getting himself a big goal to tie the game at 1-1, sending it to overtime.

It didn’t take long for the Blazers to strike in overtime, as Hurlbert setup the winner sending a tape-to-tape pass to Isa Guram, who wired a shot outside from outside the right faceoff dot to give Kamloops a huge win.