After partying up in the rain at the South Okanagan Events Centre, the crowd of 3,655 were ready to give the Penticton Vees their support.
Hanging on to a 2-1 lead in the final minute of regulation time, fans chanted 鈥淕o Vees Go.鈥� The Vees delivered with a 2-1 win over the West 琉璃神社 Warriors in their home opener to improve to 5-0.
| Penticton Vees scramble keep the puck out the net in the dying seconds of the third period with Parm Dhaliwal (22), Chase Stevenson, middle and Matt Kowalski, far right pressuring.Mark Brett/Western News |
鈥淧laying in front of the fans is unbelievable,鈥� said Vees co-captain Grant Cruikshank in his return, which he was named first star.
Cruikshank gave the Vees a 2-0 lead with 6:30 left in the second period after taking a pass from Nicky Leivermann. Inside the Warriors blueline, Cruikshank pulled a move to elude his opponent and cruise in freely on goalie Nik Amundrud to beat him five hole. Amundrud finished with 31 saves.
鈥淚鈥檓 not really sure, it was kind of a blur,鈥� said Cruikshank on his goal, which Cassidy Bowes also assisted on. 鈥淚t was a nice play by Nicky giving the puck to me with speed. It was a fun game to be a part of. I鈥檓 glad we could get the win.鈥�
Cruikshank said he had no idea where he was shooting, though he said some of his favourite targets are five-hole, low blocker on breakaways, and going high.
In the opening six minutes of the third there were only two shots on goal, both by the Warriors. The Vees had one play breaking into the Warriors zone as Cruikshank had Chris Klack on his far left. He fed Klack the puck, but Klack鈥檚 shot attempt would deflect high over the glass quickly wiping away a potentially dangerous scoring chance.
| West 琉璃神社 Warriors defenceman Tyler Jutting shoves Penticton Vee Ryan Sandelin to get a better position to reach the puck.Mark Brett/Western News |
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have great goaltending back there. It gives all the guys on the bench confidence and the guys on the ice,鈥� he said.
The Warriors solved Scheel with 1:14 left in regulation after Parm Dhaliwal won the draw back to Michael Ryan. He fed the puck high in the offensive zone to Chase Dubois, who took a moment before rifling a shot high past Scheel鈥檚 glove.
The Vees hit the scoresheet first at 9:02 of the second as Jared Nash and Leivermann teamed up to find Dakota Boutin. Boutin鈥檚 first shot was denied, but left alone near the crease, the Northern Michigan University commit fired a rebound past Amundrud for his second goal of the season.
Cruikshank said he felt they played a great game.
鈥淭here is a lot of skill on this team which is super exciting,鈥� he said.
The man advantage wasn鈥檛 a factor for either team going 0-for-4.
