An eight-month, 40-game undefeated run by the Penticton Vees has been put to a halt.
The Wenatchee Wild are the B.C. Hockey League’s first team this year to defeat the Vees, doing so with a 2-1 victory Friday night (Dec. 9) in Washington state.
After winning 24 games in a row to start the 2022-2023 campaign, the Vees (24-1-0-0) found themselves on the losing side of an affair for the first time since March 31. Dating back to last year’s championship run, Penticton had won 40 games in a row.
Wenatchee (10-13-0-2) used a pair of goals from Christian Kim and a 43-save performance in the crease from goaltender Owen Millward to stop Penticton from winning its 25th game of the season.
The Vees’ lone goal came shorthanded from Spencer Smith, after the team had fallen behind 2-0 to start the third period. Fred Harbinson’s squad outshot the Wild by a margin of 44-19.
Win by one. Allow only one. 24-1.
— Wenatchee Wild (@WenatcheeWild1) December 10, 2022
Tonight, we were the one to hand the BCHL's last unbeaten team its first loss.
Your Plumb Perfect final score: Wild 2, Vees 1.#RestoreTheRoar pic.twitter.com/RNWRtcjEwl
Penticton only dressed 17 skaters, as they entered Friday’s showdown without forwards Aydar Suniev and Nic DeGraves and defenceman Ryan Hopkins. In the middle frame, the team’s bench got even less crowded when Thomas Pichette sustained an upper-body injury and was forced to leave the game.
The first-place Vees are 15 points clear of the Cranbrook Bucks (16-8-1-0) in the Interior Conference. Penticton aims to win its 25th game of the campaign Saturday night (Dec. 10) when they play the second-place Bucks on the road.
Along with having their 24-game win streak come to an end, Vees forward Bradly Nadeau had his six-game point streak erased as well.
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