The Vees began their nine game season-ending homestand on the right foot, by beating the Merritt Centennials 6-2 on Friday night. The crowd of 3,034 saw the Vees extend their win streak to six games to capture their 37th victory of the season.
The division-leading Vees scored four goals in the opening frame versus the Centennials. The scoring started early on a goal from Conner Hutchison, who took a wrist shot from the top of the left circle beating Cents goalie Ryan Winter on the blocker side.
Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jay O’Brien scored what ended up being the game-winning goal. O’Brien snuck into the slot, leaving him all alone while shooting low blocker side on Winter. He wound up with a goal and two assists which earned O’Brien BCHL player of the week honours.
Back up goalie Carl Stankowski had another outstanding performance, stopping 30 shots to earn first star of the game, followed by O’Brien and Lukas Sillinger.
Up next for the Vees is a game against the Vernon Vipers. Penticton last beat the Vipers 2-1 at Kal Tire Place on January 15th. The Vees look to extend their winning streak to seven and the puck drops this Saturday at 6:00 pm at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
