Penticton came-from-behind for the second straight game as Luc Wilson played hero scoring in overtime to help the Vees to their third straight victory in a 4-3 triumph over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Vees scored the first goal of the game with Stefano Bottini tallying his first goal of the season at the 2:28 mark of the opening frame.
Trail bounced back and tied the game.
Before the period was out, 16-year-old Bradley Nadeau found the back of the net for the first time this season to give Penticton a one-goal lead once again.
The 2nd period was a bit hectic with plenty of action going on. The Vees outshot the Smoke Eaters by a 16-2 margin but Trail scored the only goal of the period to even the score at 2-2.
The Vees hit a pair of posts in the middle stanza with Luc Wilson wiring a shot off a one-timer from the right face-off circle on the power play off the blocker side post before Bottini was denied of his second goal of the game, taking a pass from Brett Moravec tight to the goal and tipping a backhand off the glove side post as the game was 2-2 heading into the 3rd period.
For the fourth straight game, Zach Michaelis found the back of the net for the Smoke Eaters and gave Trail their first lead of the game at 3-2 at the 5:10 mark of the 3rd period.
After a two-goal performance in the last game, Nadeau continued his strong play with another 3rd period tying goal to get the game even at 3-3.
In a back and forth overtime, which saw the Vees hit another post in the way of Josh Nadeau, Luc Wilson scored for Penticton and ended the game with just 15 seconds remaining. Wilson made his way into the offensive zone and held the puck to the slot where he sent a shot through Fradette for his 1st goal of the season and pushed the Vees to a 4-3 overtime victory.
Vees’ Kaeden Lane turned aside 25 saves on 28 shots for his 2nd win of the season while Evan Fradette made 50 saves on 54 shots in his 3rd loss of the season.
The Vees (3-0-0-0) head out on the road for the first time this season playing the BC Hockey League Showcase in Chilliwack against the Langley Rivermen (2-0-0-0) on Wednesday night at the Chilliwack Coliseum.