Penticton scored five of their six goals on special teams in beating West Kelowna 6-3 Tuesday

Photo: Wayne Moore

Josh Nadeau taps home Penticton's third goal of the night Tuesday.

Tuesday's battle for supremacy atop the BC Hockey League's Interior Division quickly turned into special teams battle.

It was one the Penticton Vees easily won.

The Vees scored three times with the man advantage, and stymied any hopes of a West Kelowna comeback with two shorthanded markers in a 6-3 victory over the Warriors at Royal LePage Place.

Five-on-five, the Warriors hung all night with the speedy Vees, but it was in the penalty box where this game was won.

The Warriors thought they opened the scoring three minutes in when Chase Dafoe converted a turnover, but a rarely called penalty for a chinstrap not being secured nullified the goal and put the Vees on the power play.

Spencer Smith cashed in beating Johnny Derrick five-hole on a breakaway.

With the Warriors on their second power play of the period it was the Vees who struck when Finlay Williams converted a two-on-one to double the lead.

The Warriors got that one back early in the second on a goal from Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero and seemed to have some momentum when they hit penalty trouble again.

They found themselves two-men down for a minute 40 seconds, and paid dearly when Josh Nadeau tapped home a rebound Derrick was unable to control at the side of the net.

Stefano Bottini found the scoresheet minutes later when he bulled his way through the Warriors defence and beat Derrick again five-hole with the Warriors on another power play.

Justin Katz replaced Derrick who allowed four goals on 25 shots.

Any hope of a comeback was quelled six minutes into the third when Frank Djurasevic beat a screened Katz directly off a faceoff.

The Warriors made it interesting when Riley Sharun and John Evans scored two minutes apart, but a late Penticton power play goal ended things.

The game disintegrated in the dying moments as the Warriors took exception to several hits late in the game, Captain Elan Bar Lev Wise was left bloodied when he was rammed head first into the end boards while newcomer Jayden Price took a blindside elbow inside the Vees end.

Neither play was penalized.

West Kelowna forward Tyler Cristall was handed three misconducts after the Price hit, penalties which could result in further action from the league.

The Warriors outshot Penticton 36-31, but special teams, not the shot clock was their undoing.

West Kelowna travel to Trail Friday night before returning home to host Cranbrook.

Prior to the game Warriors forward Felix Trudeau was lone of 18 players, one from each team, named to take part in the BCHL all-star weekend three-on-three competition.