After a pair of late goals by Jonny Tychonick to set the stage for overtime, Grant Cruikshank scored the winner in the extra session for 3-2 Penticton Vees win over the host Merritt Centennials.
There was no scoring in the first and Merritt’s Colten Gerlib got the Cents on the board with the only tally of the middle frame. In the third, Rylen Van Unen made it 2-0 Centennials but with just under five minutes to go, Tychonick got his first. The second goal to tie it came just 2:19 later as the Vees outshot the Cents 19-5 in the third.
Penticton had the only two shots on goal in overtime with Cruikshank’s winner coming at 1:05 of OT. Jacob Berger was the game’s 1st Star, making 42 saves for Merritt while Nolan Hildebrand stopped 23 for Penticton.
Lucas Wong’s first BCHL goal was a big one, the overtime winner for the Coquitlam Express in a 2-1 home win over the Langley Rivermen. Eric Linell got the Express on the board with the only goal of the first but Langley’s Daneel Lategan, also with his first in the BCHL, tied it in the middle frame. Neither team was able to claim the two points in regulation and Wong’s decisive tally came at 2:58 of OT. Clay Stevenson made 35 saves for the win while Braedon Fleming stopped 26 for Langley.
Isaac Tonkin-Palmer scored the overtime winner for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in a 2-1 road win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals. After a scoreless first, Alexandre Drapeau got the Caps on the board in the second. The Bulldogs got a goal from Keaton Mastrodonato at 15:26 of the third to force overtime, setting the stage for Tonkin-Palmer’s heroics. John Hawthorne made 32 saves for the Bulldogs while Adam Marcoux turned aside 34 shots for Cowichan.
August Von Ungern scored shorthanded late in the third period for the Wenatchee Wild in a 4-2 road win over the West Kelowna Warriors. Willie Reim got the Warriors on the board in the first but Daniel Chladik tied the game in the second. Chad Sasaki scored just 14 seconds into the third for Wenatchee but RJ Murphy drew the Warriors even. It looked like OT might be needed but Von Ungern got the winner with just less than five minutes to go. Jasper Weatherby added an empty-net goal as well. Austin Park made 27 saves in the win while Nik Amundrud stopped 37 for West Kelowna.
Daniel Davidson made 30 saves to backstop the Surrey Eagles to a 4-3 road win over the Prince George Spruce Kings. The teams swapped first-period goals with Dominic Dumas for Surrey and Ben Poisson for PG and in the second, the Eagles went up two on markers by Cody Schiavon and Connor Sundquist. Ty Westgard’s goal near the midway point of the final frame wound up the winner as Chong Min Lee and Kyle Johnson scored for PG in the third as well but they were not able to equalize.
Spencer McLean’s goal 58 seconds into the third period stood up as the winner for the Trail Smoke Eaters in a 5-4 win over the visiting Victoria Grizzlies. After Drayson Pears opened the scoring for the Grizzlies in the first, Ryan Murphy and Blaine Caton replied for Trail and in the second the Smokies went up three with Caton and Andre Ghantous scoring. But the Grizzlies rallied for three in a row with Carter Berger, Ryan Nolan and Alex Newhook tallying to make it 4-4 going to the third. McLean’s goal came early in the final frame and Brandon Wells was able to close the door after that as he wound up with 18 saves in the win. Zach Rose stopped 34 for Victoria.
Ty Taylor made 27 saves to take 1st Star honours while Jimmy Lambert and Brett Stapley set up a pair of goals each in a 4-1 home win over the Nanaimo Clippers. Connor Marritt and Chris Jandric scored in the first to provide all the offence the Vipers would need. Vincent Millette got the one Clips goal in the second and in the third, Shane Kelly and Jordan Sandhu tallied for Vernon.
Mitch Adamyk stopped 35 of 36 shots with Ethan Kimball and Hunter Findlater scored in the first period to provide all the scoring the Powell River Kings needed in a 5-1 road win over the Chilliwack Chiefs. Jonny Evans made it a three-goal Kings lead in the second before Ryan Miotto got the Chiefs goal. Carter Turnbull added a power-play goal in the third and Kyle Kawamura finished up with an empty-netter.
