A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Despite a slow start, the Kelowna Rockets returned to their winning ways on Friday night.
At Prince George, Adam Kydd scored what stood up as the game-winning goal early in the third period, as the Rockets edged the Cougars 3-2.
Kydd’s goal gave Kelowna a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets were sluggish in the first period, getting outshot 11-3. From there, though, the tables turned, with Kelowna outshooting Prince George 14-9 in the second and 12-8 in the third.
Mark Liwiski, who opened the scoring at 18:49 of the second period, and Marcus Pacheco, who made it 2-0 at 1:06 of the third, also scored for Kelowna (27-12-1-3).
Koehn Zimmer, with his 20th goal of the season at 2:19 to make it 2-1, and Riley Heidt, who closed out the scoring at 11:01 of the third, replied for Prince George (19-26-2-1).
Talyn Boyko made 26 saves for the Rockets, with Ty Young stopping 26 shots for the Cougars.
The Rockets were 0-for-1 on the power play, while the Cougars were 0-for-3. The announced attendance was 1,684.
Friday’s tilt was the second of three consecutive games between the two teams, with Prince George defeating Kelowna 5-2 on Wednesday despite outshooting the Cougars 46-28. The Rockets and Cougars will play again on Saturday night in Prince George.
On Monday, the Rockets will host Tri-City (13-28-5-0). Game time on Family Day at Prospera Place is 2 p.m.
Friday’s results
- Everett 4, Kamloops 1
- Seattle 3, Spokane 1
- Portland 6, Tri-City 2
- Victoria 5, Vancouver 2
- Brandon 5, Lethbridge 2
- Regina 5, Prince Albert 4
- Red Deer 5, Saskatoon 3
- Swift Current 7, Medicine Hat 2
- Winnipeg 3, Calgary 1
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 5 p.m.
- Winnipeg at Red Deer, 5 p.m.
- Brandon at Swift Current, 5 p.m.
- Lethbridge at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
- Saskatoon at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
- Seattle at Portland, 6 p.m.
- Victoria at Everett, 6:05 p.m.
- Spokane at Tri-City, 6:05 p.m.
- Vancouver at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
- Kelowna at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Saskatoon at Calgary, 3 p.m.
- Sunday’s Games Spokane at Portland, 5 p.m.
Monday’s games
- Swift Current at Regina, noon
- Prince Albert at Medicine Hat, 1 p.m.
- Winnipeg at Edmonton, 1 p.m.
- Everett at Kamloops, 2 p.m.
- Victoria at Vancouver, 2 p.m.
- Tri-City at Kelowna, 2:05 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Vees showed why they’re the league’s best team on Friday night.
In front of a hometown crowd of 2,673 at the South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton scored early, just seven minutes in, en route to a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
At the same time, the Vees defensively limited the Warriors’ offence to just four shots in the first period and 16 shots overall. At game’s end, Penticton had outshot West Kelowna 38-16.
Josh Nadeau, with two goals, and Joshua Niedermayer scored for Penticton (32-6-0-2-0). Kaeden lane made 15 saves for the Vees.
John Evans, who closed out the scoring at 6:31 of the third, replied for West Kelowna (25-14-1-0-0). Johnny Derrick stopped 35 saves for the Warriors.
Penticton was 1-for-5 on the power play while West Kelowna was 0-for-2.
At Salmon Arm, Aaron Trotter stopped 36 of 37 shots as the Spruce Kings pushed past the Silverbacks, the league’s second-best team.
Kilian McGregor-Bennett, Luc Laylin and Kolton Cousins, with an empty-net goal with 1:20 remaining, scored for Prince George (24-9-3-6-0), which led 1-0 and 2-0 at the period breaks.
Zack Smith, with his third of the season at 11:22 of the third to make it 2-1, replied for Salmon Arm (30-7-3-1-0). The Silverbacks outshot Prince George 21-6 in the third.
Owen Say stopped 24 of 26 shots for the Silverbacks, who are second in league points with 64, two behind the first-place Penticton Vees. Prince George is fourth overall with 57.
The Spruce Kings were 1-for-4 on the power play while the Silverbacks were 0-for-3. Notably, Prince George is 2-1 against Salmon Arm this season.
At Wenatchee, Wash., the Wild scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Vipers on Friday night.
Cade Littler, who opened the scoring at 3:29 of the second period following a scoreless first, Garrett Szydlowski, Parker Murray, Brasen Boser and Jakob Karpa scored for Wenatchee (15-19-4-1-0), which led 3-1 after 40 minutes.
Copeland Fricker, with his first goal of the season at 9:37 of the second period to make it 1-1, replied for Vernon (19-16-4-3-0).
Tyler Shea stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Wild, with Roan Clarke turning aside 34 of 39 shots for the Vipers.
Wenatchee was 1-for-6 on the power play while Vernon was 0-for-4.
Friday’s results
- Cranbrook 4, Merritt 0
- Chilliwack 5, Nanaimo 0
- Langley 2, Powell River 1 (OT)
- Alberni Valley 3, Victoria 2
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Prince George at Penticton, 6 p.m.
- Chilliwack at Alberni Valley, 7 p.m.
- Surrey at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.
- Trail at Merritt, 7 p.m.
- Victoria at Nanaimo, 7 p.m.
- Langley at Powell River, 7 p.m.
- Cranbrook at West Kelowna, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Chilliwack at Victoria, 2 p.m.
- Cranbrook at Penticton, 4 p.m.
- Coquitlam at Surrey, 4 p.m.
- Trail at West Kelowna, 6 p.m.
Monday’s games
- Prince George at Vernon, 2 p.m.
- Nanaimo at Alberni Valley, 2 p.m.
- Langley at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday’s results
- Kimberley 5, Creston Valley 1
- Columbia Valley 3, Fernie 2
- Sicamous 1, Revelstoke 0
- Kamloops 6, 100 Mile House 1
- North Okanagan 3, Chase 2 (SO)
- Osoyoos 4, Princeton 1
- Nelson 4, Beaver Valley 3
- Grand Forks 4, Castlegar 2
- Kelowna 6, Summerland 2
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Golden at Columbia Valley, 6 p.m.
- Creston Valley at Fernie, 6:30 p.m.
- Sicamous at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
- Summerland at North Okanagan, 7 p.m.
- Kimberley at Castlegar, 7 p.m.
- Grand Forks at Nelson, 7 p.m.
- 100 Mile House at Chase, 7 p.m.
- Princeton at Osoyoos, 7:35 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.
Monday’s games
- No games scheduled.