Will Ingemann made 20 saves and recorded his first career postseason shutout as the Penticton Vees opened the BCHL Playoffs with a 3-0 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Friday, April 5.
The Vees lead the first-round best-of-seven series 1-0.
Anselmo Rego, Francesco Dell’Elce, and Zack Stringer scored for Penticton, who entered the playoffs after finishing the regular season on a three-game losing streak. Brock Reinhart recorded two assists.
“Our team committed to the game plan,” Matt Miller, the Vees’ director of hockey operations, said after Friday’s playoff opener. “A well-executed game from our group, especially on the heels of a tough ending to the regular season. It was good to see a complete team effort.”
Rego scored his first-career playoff goal 12 minutes into the first period to open the scoring.
The Vees added to their lead in the middle frame, when Dell’Elce and Stringer both found the back of the net within three minutes.
Prince George was held to single-digit shot totals in each period. The team’s best chance came off the stick of Kazumo Sasaki, who was denied by Ingemann on a breakaway early in the second period when it was 1-0 Penticton.
The Vees goaltender led in BCHL shutouts during the regular season with six, and was named Friday’s first star of the game.
Penticton, who finished with the best record in the Interior Conference in 2023-2024, hosts the eighth-place Spruce Kings for Game No. 2 of the playoffs’ first-round series on Saturday.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
The series shifts to Prince George next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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