Vees smoke Salmon Arm

Photo: Cherie Morgan Photography

With an 8-1 rout of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday, the Penticton Vees are within an arm's reach of securing first place in the BCHL for the season.

Veterans Wyatt Sloboshan, Owen Sillinger and Taylor Ward all scored in the opening frame for the Vees, in what was their final road game of the regular season.

Goals from Dakota Boutin, Ward again and Jared Nash put the Vees up by six midway through the second.

Ward's second goal of the night at 6:24 of the second spelled the end of the night for Silverbacks goalie Kyle Dumba, who was yanked after allowing five goals on 19 shots.

Rhett Kingston scored for Salmon Arm late in the second, but Sloboshan scored his second of the game just 85 seconds later to restore a six-goal cushion.

A third-period goal from Cassidy Bowes cemented the Vees' 8-1 victory — their third-largest offensive output in a game this season.

Adam Scheel earned the win in goal with 20 saves on 21 shots. The Vees elected to make a goalie change with 9:56 to go in the third, and Nolan Hildebrand stopped the only shot he faced in that span.

In the previous meeting between the two teams, Scheel was run over in the crease late in the third and was forced to leave the game.

The Vees finished the night 3-8 on the powerplay and 2-2 on the penalty kill. They led 36-22 in shots, including 11-2 in the third.

Bowes, Ward and Jonny Tychonick each finished with three points, while Sloboshan, Sillinger, Michael Campoli and Chris Klack all had two points each. 

Penticton improves to 5-0 in the season series against Salmon Arm.

The two teams will play one final time on Sunday in the last day of the BCHL regular season. That game will be the fifth in five nights for the Silverbacks — an unprecedented stretch of games due to a makeup game they will play on Thursday night against Merritt. 

With two games left in the regular season, the Vees (39-12-2-3) are within one point of clinching the Interior division title and the BCHL's top spot.

Penticton will lock up the league's top spot with a single point in either of their final two games — on Saturday night against the Wenatchee Wild or on Sunday afternoon against Salmon Arm.

They would also clinch first place if the Wild and Vernon Vipers tie when they play on Friday night.