Reilly Herbst

The Penticton Vees ran into another hot goaltender, throwing 40 shots on Vernon netminder Reilly Herbst but fell in overtime to the Vipers by a 2-1 score on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

 

The first few minutes was a feeling out process between the two sides as both teams didn’t have much when it came to offensive chances until the Vees first power play created an opportunity as the Vipers worked in on a shorthanded breakaway.

 

Newcomer Dawson Holt made his way into the Vees zone with a breakaway from the blue line and tried to shoot over the glove side of Penticton netminder Yaniv Perets but the netminder came up with a big stop to keep the game scoreless.

 

A power play cracked the scoreless deadlock as Vernon opened the scoring in the opening frame at the 10:49 mark as Brett Fudger banged in the puck at the top of the crease. Matt Kowalski centered a pass from below the goal line that ramped off a stick and was knocked down by Fudger at the top of the blue paint before he chipped it past the blocker side of Perets to push Vernon ahead by a 1-0 margin.

 

The Vees got their best chance to score late in the opening frame as Tristan Amonte was denied on the backdoor opportunity. David Silye spotted Amonte on the blocker side as he slapped the puck toward the net but Vipers netminder Reilly Herbst came across and made a big right pad stop with under a minute to go in the period to keep the Vernon lead at 1-0.

 

Penticton’s pressure continued in the second period, outshooting the Vipers by 21-10 margin through the middle stanza but still couldn’t find a way past Herbst, despite their best efforts. Jackson Niedermayer had a great opportunity on a power play as he took a Silye pass in the right face-off circle but was robbed by the shoulder of Herbst.

 

With more and more shots and pressure mounting for the Vees in the 3rd period, Penticton was finally able to get on the scoreboard and tie the game at the 11:37 mark of the final regulation frame with Alex DiPaolo finding the back of the net.

 

Danny Weight drove the net wide on the right wing and sped his way to the front of the net before steering a puck on goal with Herbst making the initial save before DiPaolo knocked home the loose puck on the blocker side for his 3rd goal of the season and got the game to even just over the midway point of the 3rd period.

 

The two teams played cautiously after that and went into overtime tied at 1-1. The Vipers put two shots on goal that Perets had to be strong on, stopping a Matt Kowalski breakaway chance before robbing Cameron MacDonald on a two-on-one, reaching back with his blocker hand and keeping the game alive.

 

The Vipers pressed further and tallied the game winning marker at the 3:45 mark of the overtime period as a shot from the slot was stopped by Perets with the rebound pushed across the goal line by Christian Felton that gave Vernon the win and the extra point.

 

Yaniv Perets turned aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced in his 1st loss of the season while Reilly Herbst kept the Vipers in the game all night long, stopping 39 of the 40 shots thrown his way in his 4th win of the season.