The Spruce Grove Saints (17-25-5-0) open a three-game weekend on the road beginning on Friday night as they face-off against the Penticton Vees (36-7-5-0) at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
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Breakdown:
Spruce Grove:
Overall Record: 17-25-5-0 (9th in Interior Conference – 18th in BCHL)
Home Record: 8-12-4-0
Road Record: 9-13-1-0
Power Play: 27-for-161 (16.8% – 18th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 142-for-189 (75.4% – 17th in BCHL)
Penticton:
Overall Record: 36-7-5-0 (1st in Interior Conference – 1st in BCHL)
Home Record: 18-1-5-0
Road Record: 18-6-0-0
Power Play: 37-for-153 (24.2% – 4th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 109-for-135 (80.7% – 5th in BCHL)
Season Series:
Friday, September 20th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, October 20th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (3-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, February 28th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-3 Saints/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, March 14th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (8:00 PM MST)
Looking Back:
Spruce Grove will look to get back on track and find their way into the win column after a 4-2 loss to the Blackfalds Bulldogs on Saturday night at Grant Fuhr Arena. Frederic Deschenes and Josh Polak each found the back of the net for the Saints while Bodee Weiss turned aside 22 of the 25 shots thrown his way in his 13th loss of the season.
Penticton comes into Friday night following a single-game weekend last week that saw them come away with a 3-2 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors last Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Louie Wehmann, Tristan Petersen scored in the first period while Ryden Evers tallied the game winner in the 3rd to help for the win. Ethan Buenaventura collected his 12th win of the season in making saves on 17 of the 19 shots he faced.
Saints Leading Scorers:
Josh Polak (19-16-35)
Austin Peters (9-23-32)
Ryan Johnstone (14-15-29)
Stephen Kirkpatrick (8-18-26)
Max Seguin (11-14-25)
Vees Leading Scorers:
Ryden Evers (21-29-50)
Luke Posthumus (23-19-42)
Caton Ryan (11-27-38)
Max Heise (25-12-37)
Nolan Stevenson (8-28-36)
Who’s Hot:
Spruce Grove:
- Ryan De Kok – Goaltender – Grande Prairie, Alberta
Another game against Penticton will look to bring the best out of De Kok, who has been stellar against the BCHL’s best team over the course of their season series thus far. One could argue the Grande Prairie native has been the best player on the ice when these two teams match up as De Kok possesses a 2.69 goals against average and a .925 save percentage against the Vees this season while the netminder has also won two of his last three starts.
- Josh Polak – Forward – Strathcona County, Alberta – University of Minnesota-Duluth
The Saints leading scorer is looking to keep the offense going after tallying goals in back-to-back games last weekend and is one shy of hitting the 20-goal mark, sitting at 19 heading into Friday’s action. The UMD commit has registered points in five of his last seven games and will need to be sharp as the Saints embark on a three-game road trip in search of victories in a late season push for the playoffs.
Penticton:
- Ryden Evers – Forward – Burnaby, BC – University of Nebraska-Omaha
The UNO commit scored the game winning goal on Friday to push the Vees to a one-goal victory over the West Kelowna Warriors and the third-year forward sits just three points shy of tying his point total from last season as he enters play with 50 points on the campaign. Evers has scored in back-to-back games for Penticton and has earned points in three of his last four and five of his last seven contests.
- Max Heise – Forward – Calgary, Alberta – Michigan State University
Leading the Vees with 25 goals this season, Heise has been a huge piece of the offense for Penticton and will look to keep his good stretch of play going, tallying three goals and two assists for five points over the course of his last three games. The Michigan State commit had a goal and an assist the last time these two teams met on February 28th while the Calgary native gets set to suit up in his 95th game with the Vees on Friday.
The Saints and Vees drop the puck on the fourth and final game of their four game season series on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre at 8:00 PM MST. The game will be broadcasted live on the Saints Radio Network as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
