A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Kelowna Rockets continued their season-long dominance of the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night.
At Prospera Place, Tyson Feist scored both of Kelowna’s goals as the Rockets overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Blazers 2-1.
It was the seventh meeting of the season between the two B.C. Division rivals, with Kelowna having won all seven games.
“There’s a belief within our room. (Kamloops is) a very good hockey club, but we’ve had some success,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette.
“It doesn’t matter how – if it’s at the beginning of the game and you have to fight it out to the end. or you chip away like we did tonight. It was a complete game; it wasn’t the prettiest of games, but we worked and we did what we had to do.”
The win also edged second-place Kelowna closer to first-place Kamloops in the division race. The Blazers (35-14-2-0) have 72 points, eight more than the Rockets (30-12-1-3, 64 points), but Kelowna has played five fewer games.
Reese Belton, who opened the scoring at 10:07 of the second, replied for Kamloops, which will host Kelowna Saturday night at the Sandman Centre, at 7 p.m.
Talyn Boyko stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Rockets for his 21st win of the season, with Dylan Ernst turning aside 33 of 35 shots for the Blazers.
Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play.
Friday’s win was also Kelowna’s fourth in a row, with the Rockets now 8-2 in their past 10 games. The Blazers are 6-3-1-0 in their past 10.
Following Saturday’s game in Kamloops, the Rockets will trek south to Seattle for a 5 p.m. game on Sunday against the Thunderbirds (30-12-4-1).
Friday’s results
- Portland 7, Prince George 2
- Spokane 5, Seattle 3
- Tri-City 6, Everett 5
- Vancouver 4, Victoria 0
- Saskatoon 5, Brandon 2
- Edmonton 6, Regina 3
- Calgary 8, Lethbridge 1
- Moose Jaw 7, Swift Current 0
- Red Deer 3, Prince Albert 2
- Winnipeg 6, Medicine Hat 2
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Winnipeg at Swift Current, 5 p.m.
- Prince Albert at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
- Medicine Hat at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
- Regina at Red Deer, 6 p.m.
- Everett at Seattle, 6:05 p.m.
- Kelowna at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
- Portland at Prince George, 7 p.m.
- Tri-City at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
- Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Moose Jaw at Saskatoon, 2 p.m.
- Regina at Calgary, 3 p.m.
- Winnipeg at Swift Current, 5 p.m.
- Kelowna at Seattle, 5:05 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
As expected, the league’s best team steamrolled the league’s worst team on Friday night.
At the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, the Vees outshot the Centennials 59-22 en route to a three-goal victory.
Josh Nadeau, with two goals, Aydar Suniev, Jackson Nieuwendyk and Luc Wilson scored for Penticton (35-7-0-2-0), which led 2-0 and 3-1 at the period breaks. Nadeau’s goals were his team-leading 34th and 35th goals of the season.
Ben Ward, who made it 3-1 at 13:56 of the second, and Ashton Taylor, at 8:14 of the third to make it 4-2, replied for Merritt (3-26-2-1-0).
Carter Serhyenko made 20 saves for the Vees, with Jackson Baker stopping 54 shots for the Centennials, who were outshot 17-7 in the first period, 21-6 in the second and 21-9 in the third.
Penticton was 1-for-6 on the power play while Merritt was 0-for-4.
After racing out to a three-goal lead on Friday night, the Silverbacks held on to defeat the Spruce Kings despite getting handily outshot.
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy, with two goals, Simon Tassy and Noah Serdachny scored for Salmon Arm (31-8-3-1-0), which led 3-1 and 4-2 at the period breaks.
Nick Rheaume, John Herrington and Ty Gagno replied for Prince George (25-11-3-7-0), which outshot Salmon Arm 40-23, including 15-4 in the third period.
Owen Say stopped 37 shots for the Silverbacks, with Aaron Trotter making 19 saves for the Spruce Kings.
Salmon Arm was 1-for-4 on the power play while Prince George was 1-for-6.
At Trail, Max Borovinskiy scored the game-winning goal, in the shootout, as the Vipers edged the Smoke Eaters on Friday night.
Zack Tonelli and Cade McNelly scored in regulation time for Vernon (21-16-4-3-0). Tonelli opened the scoring at 13:01 of the first period, with McNelly closing out regulation-time scoring at 3:13 of the third.
Teddy Lagerback, at 5:45 of the second, and Corey Cunningham, at 1:26 of the third, replied for Trail (16-21-2-2-0).
Roan Clarke stopped 35 of 37 shots for the Vipers, with Evan Fradette turning aside 39 of 41 shots for the Smokies.
Vernon was 0-for-3 on the power play while Trail was 1-for-3.
Friday’s results
- Cranbrook 6, Wenatchee 3
- Alberni Valley 3, Powell River 2
- Victoria 6, Cowichan Valley 3
- Nanaimo 5, Langley 3
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Wenatchee at Cranbrook, 6 p.m.
- Nanaimo at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
- Powell River at Cowichan Valley, 7 p.m.
- Salmon Arm at Prince George, 7 p.m.
- Victoria at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.
- Alberni Valley at Langley, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Powell River at Cowichan Valley, 2 p.m.
- Alberni Valley at Coquitlam, 3 p.m.
- Wenatchee at Trail, 3 p.m.
- Surrey at Chilliwack, 5 p.m.
- Penticton at Vernon, 5 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
PLAYOFFS
Friday’s results
- Fernie 4, Columbia Valley 3
- Kimberley 3, Golden 2 (OT)
- Beaver Valley 5, Creston Valley 4 (OT)
- Castlegar 4, Nelson 2
- Kamloops 3, Chase 2
- Princeton 4, Osoyoos 0
- Revelstoke 6, Sicamous 1
- Kelowna 4, Summerland 3
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Columbia Valley at Fernie, 6:30 p.m.
- Kimberley at Golden, 6:30 p.m.
- Beaver Valley at Creston Valley, 6:30 p.m.
- Nelson at Castlegar, 7 p.m.
- Kamloops at Chase, 7 p.m.
- Osoyoos at Princeton, 7 p.m.
- Revelstoke at Sicamous, 7:30 p.m.
- Kelowna at Summerland, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.
Comments