The Penticton Vees five-game B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) win streak came to a disappointing end in what truly was a Wicked Wednesday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
In fact, if had not been for the heroic efforts of netminder Yaniv Perets, who was left to virtually fend for himself against the Trail Smoke Eaters forwards for two thirds of the game the score would have been much higher than the 2-0 deficit the Vees found themselves in after two periods.
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Penticton mustered a bit of a comeback in the third period but only managed one goal and the visitors added two more to finish the night with 4-1 win in front of over 3,000 fans.
In at the final frame the Vees killed off a penalty that carried over from the second and it was Lukas Sillinger who finally broke the goose egg with his ninth of the season.
During the period Vees moved the puck inside of the Smoke Eaters zone effectively and worked it up at the top of the point as Jay O’Brien slide a pass from the slot for Steve Holtz at the right point, who fired a shot toward that net that deflected off a Smoke Eaters stick as well as Sillinger’s to pull the team to within one goal.
READ MORE: Vees complete comeback for 4th straight win
The Vees were unable score on five power play opportunities during the 60 minutes.
The game remained close throughout the period until the home team took a penalty for too many men and the Smoke Easters capitalized at 15:44 and then put things out of reach three minutes later with an empty netter.
Perets suffered just his third loss of the season, stopping 25 shots while at the other end of the ice Logan Terness stopped all for one of the 42 shots he faced to earn the nod as the game’s first star.
The Vees are away for a pair of games against the Wenatchee Wild Friday and Saturday night. They will be in Salmon Arm Silverbacks Nov. 13 before returning home Nov. 15 to host Salmon Arm at 7 p.m.
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