Travis St. Denis and the Penticton Vees were given their best test against the Vernon Vipers during their winning streak. The Vees wiped away a 4-2 deficit to win 6-4 on Feb. 17.
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ShareSnakes nearly end Vees win streak
By Emanuel Sequeira - Penticton Western News
Published: February 21, 2012 4:00 PM
Updated: February 21, 2012 4:23 PM
A 35th straight win could come against the Trail Smoke Eaters on Thursday.
Travis St. Denis’ former team has won just three of its last 10 games. They are currently on a five-game losing skid and are 11-34-1-4 on the season while the Vees, who just recently clinched first overall in the BCHL, are 46-3-0-2. A whopping 67 points separate the two teams. The Smoke Eaters have also won just four gams on the road.Let’s back track, though. On Saturday the Vees 34th straight win came against the Salmon Arm SilverBacks in a 4-1 decision. Their 33rd straight win was trickier to get.
With 2,757 fans (a small portion of them from Vernon) in the South Okanagan Events Centre, it looked as though the Vees good-time ride was about to end. Unless you’re a true die-hard fan that has no problem wearing rose coloured glasses or one of 21 players on the roster, then the opinion was different.
Early in the third period, Adam Tambellini placed a great wrist shot past Michael Garteig top shelf. That gave the Vipers a 4-2 lead. It appeared to be the nail in the coffin. Not to the Vees. Vees captain Logan Johnston said the Vipers never got far enough ahead that it was out of their reach.
“We just stayed calm and with it and we got a couple of good bounces,” said Johnston. “We still have confidence that we can put the puck in the net. It wasn’t a huge panic.”
When you’re averaging 5.69 goals per game, I guess it’s hard to get into panic mode. In the opening period, the Vees looked out of sync and struggled to make some of their passes. They also didn’t seem to have flow to their game. Johnston credited the Vipers Vipers for capitalizing on their chances.
One thing I do agree with Johnston on is that the Vipers played hard. For a team fighting for a playoff berth, they played desperate hockey. They just couldn’t contain the juggernaut offence the Vees possess. It started with Zach Urban’s goal. The Vees rookie defenceman made a smart play putting a shot through traffic on net. He then contributed to the tying goal as he forced the puck into the Vipers zone. The Vipers couldn’t clear the puck as Bryce Gervais lept to the air to snag the puck and found twine. Four minutes later Mike Reilly finished the comeback.
The best way to describe the performance is a resilient effort. The last time the Vees trailed after two periods of play was against the Merritt Centennials when they lost 3-2. In two other games during the streak, the game was tied after two periods. Urban said the Vipers were their hardest opponent during the streak.
Some might say the Vees need a loss as it will be good for them heading into the playoffs. Having now clinched first in the BCHL that might not hurt. This is a group that doesn’t give up and that’s impressive. That meeting with the Vipers was the last between the two unless they meet in the playoffs.
To Harbinson what they got was a “good playoff-style hockey game.
“You have to give them credit, they made some plays and had some seeing eye shots from some very good hockey players,” he said. “When we got down 4-2 in the third period, our crowd really got into it and started pushing our guys.”
Emanuel Sequeira is the sports editor for the Penticton Western News.
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