Penticton hit double digits in a lopsided win over the west Kelowna Warriors Saturday

Photo: Wayne Moore

The West Kelowna Warriors came crashing to earth with a thud.

On a night when the Warriors paid tribute to the memory and legacy of former Warrior Parm Dhaliwal, it was the Penticton Vees who flexed their muscles in a convincing 10-3 victory Saturday at Royal LePage Place.

The Warriors were never in this one from the outset, falling behind 3-0 to the reigning BCHL champions before the game was barely seven minutes old.

Dovar Tinling opened the scoring with his first of two, deflecting a point shot past Justin Katz just three minutes in.

Jackson Nieuwendyk off a giveaway and Billy Norcross on a rebound put the Vees up 3-0.

Isaiah Norlin got one back on the power play before the period was up and, midway through the second, again down three, Michael Salandra stole the puck at the Penticton blueline, curled into the faceoff circle and beat Luca Di Pasquo with a shorthanded goal that brought the building and the bench to life.

They had a chance to cut into the lead further on the power play moments later, but Tinling beat Katz on a partial breakaway with a shorthanded goal of his own.

The Warriors never threatened to get back into it again.

Felix Caron with his first career BCHL goal also scored for the Warriors.

Aydar Suniev with two, Ben Brunette, Frank Djurasevic, Hiroki Gojsic and Brett Moravec also scored for the Vees.

"They don't stop competing, they don't stop working and they don't stop playing the same way," said Warriors head coach Simon Ferguson of the Vees.

"They have 95 per cent of their team back from last year that won a championship, and we have a team that needs to learn how to win and we just got a good lesson in it."

Katz allowed seven goals on 28 shots before being relieved seconds into the third by backup Angelo Zol.

Di Pasquo stopped 18 of the 21 shots he faced.

Luke Devlin was assessed a major penalty for a making head contact in the third period. He will likely face disciplinary action as a result.

The Vees are showing early they are again the class of the league. They have scored 30 goals in their four victories while allowing just six.

The Warriors are off until next weekend when they make a swing through the Kootenays for games in Cranbrook Friday and Trail Saturday.

A game Saturday in Prince George between the Spruce Kings and Vernon Vipers was called with 2:50 left after Vernon forward Will Blackburn was injured.

A tweet by the Spruce Kings indicated it was a "medical situation." Both teams agreed to officially end the game with the Vipers leading 5-1.