The Penticton Vees picked up their first WHL home victory on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre by a 3-2 score over the Portland Winterhawks. 

It was another strong start to the game for the Vees who jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 2:24 into the opening frame as Jacob Kvasnicka batted home a loose puck in the crease for his second goal of the season. 

Louie Wehmann would add to the lead at 9:42 as he jammed home his first WHL goal at the side of the net on the powerplay to make the score 2-0 heading into the first intermission. 

 

The Vees killed two powerplays in the second period and held the score to 2-0 heading into the final frame while only allowing 10 shots on AJ Reyelts through 40 minutes. 

Penticton built their lead 2:52 into the final period with Matteo Danis backhanding the puck past the Winterhawks goaltender while wide open in front, during four-on-four play, to give the Vees a 3-0 lead.  

The Winterhawks would battle back however as they would first strike on a five-on-three powerplay with Nathan Free sliding it under the blocker-side arm of Reyelts. Then, with just over one minute to go in the game, Carsyn Dyck ripped one through traffic beating Reyelts high to make it a one goal game. 

The Vees would hang on the rest of the way to secure the 3-2 win. 

 

GAME STATS

Shots:

Vees- 33

Winterhawks- 23

 

Scoring:

Vees- Jacob Kvasnicka, Louie Wehmann, Matteo Danis

Winterhawks- Nathan Free, Carsyn Dyck

 

Power Plays:

Vees- 1/4

Winterhawks- 1/5

 

Goaltending:

Vees- AJ Reyelts 21/23

Winterhawks- Ondrej Stebetak- 30/33

 

Up Next: The Vees are right back at it tomorrow night (Oct. 4) at the SOEC against the Seattle Thunderbirds for a 6:05PM faceoff.