They won the BCHL’s Fred Page Cup in dramatic overtime fashion and the Penticton Vees started the Western Canada Cup presented by Sun Life Financial in the same magical manner.
Chris Klack’s goal at 5:32 of the extra session delivered a 2-1 win for the Vees over Saskatchewan’s Battleford Stars.
The game was scoreless until late in the second frame when the Stars’ Connor Logan converted with just over a minute left in the period.
Penticton drew even just 29 seconds into the third on Gabe Bast’s power-play goal with Nic Jones setting it up. The Vees pressed hard to get the winner in regulation as they outshot the Stars 15-7 in the third but couldn’t get another one past Joel Gryzbowski.
In 4-on-4 overtime, Jones was involved again as he set up Klack for the decisive goal to send most of the 3,021 fans home happy.
The Stars have a quick turnaround and face the Portage Terriers Sunday in a 2 p.m. start. The Vees take on the Brooks Bandits Sunday at 7 p.m.
