The Penticton Vees opened preseason play with a convincing win in B.C. Hockey League action on Friday night.
At the South Okanagan Events Centre, Tristan Amonte and Quinn Hutson both scored twice in leading the host Vees to a 7-0 shelling of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
After Amonte scored back-to-back goals early in the first period to stake Penticton to a 2-0 lead, Hutson scored his first of the night at 3:56 of the second to make it 3-0.
Joining the scoring parade were Devlin O’Brien, Jackson Niedermayer and Drew Elser, as Penticton outshot Salmon Arm 41-20. Hutson’s second of the night came at 15:26 of the third to make it 6-0.
Yaniv Perets posted the shutout for the Vees, with Riley Kohonick stopping 34 shots for the Silverbacks.
Neither team had a power-play opportunity. The two teams meet again Saturday evening in Penticton at 6 p.m.
Elsewhere, West Kelowna beat Vernon 4-1 and Nanaimo edged Victoria 2-1.
West Kelowna 4, Vernon 1
At Royal LePage Place, Felix Trudeau scored twice as the host Warriors scored three unanswered goals to down the Vipers.
Elan Bar Lev Wise, who made it 1-0 just 10 seconds into the game, and Deegan Mofford also scored for West Kelowna.
Ryan Shostak replied for Vernon, which surrendered two goals in the second period, then an empty-netter to Trudeau at 19:24 of the third.
Johnny Derrick stopped 29 shots for the Warriors, with Kobe Grant turning aside 30 shots for the Vipers.
West Kelowna was 0-for-5 on the power play, with Vernon going 1-for-6.
The two teams meet again Saturday evening, this time in Vernon at 6 p.m.
Under COVID-19 ‘cohort’ or group rules, Salmon Arm, Vernon, West Kelowna and Penticton will play just each other during the league’s extended preseason schedule.
The preseason will last until early November. And to make things interesting, the league is calling the teams’ combined schedule a tournament, with the four clubs vying for the Okanagan Cup.
For more about the BCHL, click here.