Vees playoff dreams end
Photo: WHL
Penticton Vees in action Monday night.
The Penticton Vees are out of the Western Hockey League playoffs, losing their series 4-0 to the Everett Silvertips.
At the South Okanagan Events Centre Tuesday night, just a few minutes in Penticton found themselves with a player in the penalty box, giving Everett a one-man lead.
They managed to kill that powerplay, but the Silvertips had clear domination in most of the first half of the first period.
The Vees then started getting shots on net during a powerplay just before the 10 minute mark, followed quickly by a second Silvertips penalty, allowing the Vees a very brief 5-on-3 advance, followed by more 5-on-4 action.
They failed to fire one past the Everett goalie.
With fewer than seven minutes to go, Everett went on their own powerplay again following a hooking call, but no net for them either.
Then, another powerplay for Penticton with roughly 4;30 to go, and this time, they made it happen, scoring to make it a 1-0 game.
And with under a minute to go, Everett earned yet another penalty, meaning Penticton was on the powerplay yet again. They could not find the back of the net before the buzzer, but headed into the dressing room knowing they would be coming back to the rest of the powerplay.
That did not prove fruitful, and shortly after, the Silvertips tied it up.
But the Vees didn’t waste time, answering back with their own goal to make it 2-1 with roughly 15 minutes to go in the second period.
That stayed the status quo until the third period, when with 8:55 to go, Everett popped one past the Vees’ goalie AJ Reyelts.
That was followed a few minutes later with another goal by the Silvertips, making the game 3-2 in favour of Everett in the waning seven minutes of the game.
The Vees pulled the goalie, hoping to tie things up, but instead the Silvertips got an empty net goal with under two minutes left.
The final score was 4-2, and the final tally of the series 4-0 for the Silvertips.
Despite the loss in the playoffs, the Vees had a historic first season in the Western Hockey League, breaking records for wins as an expansion team.
