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The Penticton Vees are still in search of their first win at the Royal Bank Cup in Humboldt after the weekend. The Vees were upended by the host Humboldt Broncos, 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.
The Vees (0-2) have an off day Monday before resuming their tournament on Tuesday night when they take on the Woodstock Slammers.
As in their opening game, the Vees surrendered the first goal of Sunday’s game in the first period but this time fairly early. Off the opening face-off, Matt Glowa jammed in a rebound just seven seconds into the game. The puck was dumped in from center and Robbie Ciolfi was stopped in-close but Glowa found the rebound and poked it in past Mike Garteig.
The Vees seemed to calm down after that, settling into the game and in fact outshot the Broncos 9-8 in the first. The Vees efforts in the second half of the period were rewarded with a Wade Murphy goal at 19:09. Murphy took a pass in the high slot before wiring a low, hard-shot past Broncos goaltender Matt Hrynkiw.
In the middle frame the Vees found themselves in penalty trouble. The Vees were short-handed four eight minutes, take four penalties but kept the Broncos power-play off the scoresheet. However, it was an even-strength play that swung momentum in favour of the Broncos.
John Lawrence scored his first of the tournament off a rebound at the side of the Vees net at 13:14 of period two. Taylor Johnson and Robbie Ciolfi were both stopped, one shot being blocked, before the puck squirted over to Lawrence at the far-post; Lawrence put a shot over the down-and-out Garteig.
The Vees regrouped in the third period, as they pressed the Broncos for the majority of the period when five-on-five. The Vees hard work paid off late in the game, as Wade Murphy scored his second, knotting the game at two. Travis St. Denis, without a stick, kick-passed the puck to Mario Lucia, who in turn, spun a pass across the goal to Murphy for a tap-in at 15:04.
Before the period ended, the Vees were dealt a blow when Kyle Beaulieu was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for a check-from-behind penalty at the twenty minute mark; the Broncos would start overtime with a five-minute power-play.
The Broncos scored in the dying moments of the power-play in overtime, ending any comeback attempt by the Vees. Andrew Johnston scored with just three seconds remaining the in major, off his own rebound, to send the capcity crowd into a frenzy at 4:57.
Final Score: 3-2 Broncos
Shots: 43-31 Broncos
Power-Play: Vees 0/5 Broncos 1/7
That was a pretty bad call against Kyle, considering a Humbolt player did the same thing earlier in the game and was only given 2 minutes. I hope that there is no suspension for him. The Humbolt player, Johnson, sure made it look good, especially since he was perfectly fine to play overtime and score the winner to add insult to injury!