Vees lose game one at home

The Penticton Vees stumbled in the opening game of their 2019 playoff run Thursday, dropping a 4 - 1 loss to the Cowichan Valley Capitals at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Cowichan’s forecheck and constant pressure along the boards was evident all night long and resulted in their opening goal. After the puck hopped off James Miller’s stick in the slot, Niko Esposito-Selivanov found it behind the Vees net and threw a pass to Paul Selleck who jammed it under the glove of Jack LaFontaine.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the second, the Vees tied the game early in the middle frame with a rebound goal from Eric Linell.

The game didn’t stay tied long, as the Capital's struck back with two goals in three minutes from Selivanov and Dimitri Mikrogiannakis, jumping out to a 3 - 1 lead.

The Vees had a late power play in the second, but couldn’t take advantage of the last-ranked penalty kill in the BCHL and trailed 3 - 1 heading into the third.

Penticton began to ramp up the pressure in the third, but could not finish — going 0-for-5 on the powerplay on the night.

The Capitals closed the game out with an empty net goal.

Penticton now looks to even the series before it shifts to Duncan for games three and four Tuesday and Wednesday night, as game two goes Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Announced attendance was 2,552.