The Penticton Vees returned to the South Okanagan Events Centre with bumps and bruises but no wins following a pair of Interior Conference Finals losses in Vernon, but bounced back in impressive fashion on Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory.
Playing in front of 1,882 fans, Denver Manderson put forth a dominant performance after going pointless in the opening two games. He scored once and added a pair of assists for the Vees, who now trail two games to one in the series. The Penticton captain played a big role in the squad’s two-goal first period, assisting on Matt Paltridge’s icebreaker 5:12 into the hockey game. He then set up Jake Johnson midway through the opening period to stake the Vees to a two-goal advantage after 20 minutes.
While the Vipers failed to hit the scoresheet in the first, they did throw 15 shots on Sean Bonar. But in what would be a sign of things to come, the Vees starter shut down the reigning champs en route to 37 saves in a first star performance. It was the second shutout of the Interior Conference Finals, after Graeme Gordon blanked Penticton in Game 1.
In the second, third star Ryan Viselli quickly added to the lead at 2:48 of the period, beating Gordon with a solo effort to put the Vees in front 3-0. Despite being outshot in every period and 37-25 on the evening, the home side found a way to score goals and keep the series interesting. Manderson put his first goal of the Interior Finals into an empty net to insure the shutout victory.
The series resumes tonight with Game 4 from the South Okanagan Events Centre. Faceoff is set for 7:05 PM.
