Jonny Tychonick had a goal and three assists to lead the Penticton Vees (27-9-2-3) to a 4-1 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings (21-14-4-4) Thursday night.
A scoreless first period saw the Spruce Kings with the best scoring opportunity as Jarrod Hovde hit the crossbar on a three-on-two rush in the final minute of the period. The Vees lead 13-7 in shots through the opening 20 minutes.
The Spruce Kings opened the scoring in the game, a shorthanded goal early in the second. James Miller’s one timer was blocked in front of the net, and bounced to the stick of Ben Poisson. He then raced up the ice for a partial break and beat Adam Scheel on the glove side just 2:22 into the period.
The Vees answered back quickly as Jordan Henderson tied the game with a shot right under the crossbar just as the Vees power play expired. Neither team would find the back of the net until the final minute of the period.
Tychonick sent a nice pass from the left point to the front of the goal, looking for the backdoor tap in from Owen Sillinger. While Sillinger put the shot wide, Chris Klack was able to find the rebound and shovel it past Evan DeBrouwer with just 13 seconds left in the period.
Cassidy Bowes, playing his first game since Dec. 15, extended the Vees lead early in the third period. Dakota Boutin led the rush through centre ice before dropping the puck off to Tychonick in the slot. His shot was stopped by DeBrouwer, but the rebound popped out to Bowes who fired home his ninth of the year 4:14 into the third.
Nearly 10 minutes later the Vees got their fourth power play of the game and Tychonick rounded out the scoring. After Boutin made a nice play at the blueline, Tychonick walked down the left wing to the face-off circle before firing a shot over DeBrouwer’s blocker for his sixth of the year.
Adam Scheel was solid in net, shutting the door after the Spruce Kings opening goal and finishing with 24 saves to record the victory.
The win pushed Penticton to 5-0-0-1 in 2018. The Vees now return home for a Friday night matchup against the Merritt Centennials at the South Okanagan Events Centre.