The Penticton Vees took a 6-3 win against their division rivals, the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, on Friday after a hard-fought game.
Vees’ Lukas Sillinger and Jay O’Brien had great nights, picking up five and four points apiece, and goalie Yaniv Perets picked up his 11th win of the season with 20 of 23 shots saved.
Salmon Arm started off strong, with a goal 16 seconds into the game off the opening faceoff. Vees’ Danny Weight tied it up 15 minutes later off a pass from Liam Malmquist.
Read More: Penticton Vees lose a squeaker in Salmon Arm
O’Brien and Sillinger picked up their first points of the game with assists to David Silye to take the lead for the rest of the period.
Silye would take his turn assisting with a pass to Evan McIntyre 7:17 into the second period for a powerplay goal and two-goal lead. The goal was McIntyre’s fifth of the season.
Off their own powerplay, the Silverbacks narrowed the lead back down to one.
O’Brien picked up another point for his 15th goal of the season to extend the lead back to two goals with an assist from Sillinger.
Read More: Penticton Vees victorious over Wenatchee Wild 5-3
The game was full of big hits and close calls, and tensions boiled over 14 minutes into the second with a brawl that saw the Vees’ Weight and Carson Kosobud and two Silverbacks pick up 10-minute misconducts.
The Vees would extend their lead in the last period, with Steve Holtz’s fourth goal of the season and an empty-net goal by Lukas Sillinger.
Tonight, the Vees take on the Wenatchee Wild in Penticton. So far the Vees have taken all three of their previous matchups against the Wild, including a pair of back-to-back games in Wenatchee last weekend. The puck drops at 6 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre tonight.
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