Vees fall behind in series

Photo: Penticton Vees

The Penticton Vees have fallen behind in the first series of the Fred Page Cup playoffs after dropping a 3-2 overtime loss to the Cowichan Valley Capitals Tuesday night.

After a scoreless first frame, the Vees and Capitals traded goals in the second, with Vees defenceman James Miller finding the back of the net only to be equalized by Luc Wilson. 

In the third, while on a power play, the Vees were called for their second too-many-men-on-the ice penalty of the game and it cost them.

Just four seconds into the four-on-four, Niko Selivanov stole the puck away off the face-off and beat Jack LaFontaine over the glove to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead 5:12 into the third period.

The Vees fought back to tie the game on the power play with a goal from Massimo Rizzo with 7:16 left in regulation.

The game went into overtime and trouble began for Penticton — Mason Snell tried to poke a puck away at centre but lost his stick in the process.

The Capitals then controlled the puck in the Vees zone for nearly a minute before LaFontaine had a chance to cover the puck. He elected to keep play going before the Capitals were able to regain control.

David Melaragni then took a pass in the left circle and took a few strides in before firing a wrist shot over the glove of LaFontaine to win the game for the Capitals and give them the 2-1 series lead.

Penticton now looks to even the series at two in game four tomorrow and make it a best of three heading into game five Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.