Game Recap: Vees shutout Vipers, take 3-0 series lead

Photo: Lisa Mazurek Photography

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VERNON B.C. – The Penticton Vees have pushed the Vernon Vipers to the brink of elimination with a dominating 4-0 win at Kal-Tire Place, Tuesday night in Vernon.

The Vees now lead the Interior Division Semi-Final 3-0 with a chance to close the series on Wednesday night.

“Honestly, that was probably the most complete game we have played in these playoffs. Special teams were good, as the penalty kill was great, and the power play got the job done. We were backtracking hard; we didn’t give them anything in the neutral zone. Our guys stayed focus on the game plan from start to finish,” commented Assistant Coach Matt Vanden Berg post-game.

The later start Tuesday didn’t seem to affect the Vees, as they took the lead six minutes into the game. Co-Captain Thomas Pichette netted his first of the playoffs tucking a bouncing puck past Vipers’ goaltender Ethan David at the 6:19 mark. Defenceman Larry Keenan threw the puck to the front of the net, which deflected off a body and over to Pichette, who made a move to his backhand and chip it through David.

Penticton outshot the Vipers 15-9 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room. The Vees turned up the heat in the second and never looked back.

Penticton scored twice in the middle frame and limited Vernon to just three shots in the second. Callum Arnott and Simon Meier scored in the middle frame to put Penticton up 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Arnott finished a nifty passing play on a Vees power play at 4:31 that doubled the visitor’s lead. The 19-year-old converted a cross-crease pass from Billy Renfrew and beat David on the stick side for his fourth of the postseason. Meier scored five minutes later, as his fourth of the playoffs extended Penticton’s lead to 3-0. Renfrew was the setup man again, this time he found Meier wide open in front of the net and Meier  made a nifty move to his backhand that put the Vees up by three.

Penticton began the final frame on the power play, and they converted right away. Conyr Hellyer tipped a pass from Larry Keenan to extend the lead to 4-0. Hellyer’s second goal of the playoffs came just 1:31 into the period.

The Vipers were held to just two shots in the final frame by Penticton and had just five over the two periods.

Vees’ starter Will Ingemann recorded his second shutout of the playoffs, as he had to make only 14 saves. If you include the regular season, Tuesday was Ingemann’s  eighth shutout of the year in just his 36^th game played.

Billy Renfrew, Conyr Hellyer, Larry Keenan, and Zack Stringer each had two points in the win. The Vees have now won seven-straight to start the postseason and are 3-0 on the road. Penticton has not allowed a third goal in three games in this series.

GAME STATS

Shots: 35-14, Vees

Vees Scoring: Pichette (1^st), Arnott (4^th), Meier (4^th), Hellyer (2^nd)

Vees Goaltending: Will Ingemann (W) 60:00 14/14

Power-Plays

Vees: 2/5

Vipers: 0/3

Three Stars

1) Callum Arnott

2) Larry Keenan

3) Simon Meier

Next Game: The Vees look closeout their series with Vernon in Game Four on Wednesday, April 24^th, at Kal Tire Place in Vernon; puck drop is tentatively scheduled for 8:15 pm.