Michael Garteig marked his return to the line-up with a sparkling forty-three save performance, as the Penticton Vees edged the Brooks Bandits 1-0 on Saturday.
The Vees lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, with game three shifting to Penticton on Tuesday.
As in game one, the Vees opened the scoring on the power-play in the first period. Wade Murphy scored his second goal of the series at 5:48, as he finished off a pretty passing play in close. Steven Fogarty walked skated in from the corner before firing a pass through the defenders legs and out front to Murphy, who put his shot through the legs of Jan Obernesser; the goal would stand as the game-winner.
The Vees missed an opportunity to double their lead when they were given five-on-three power-play moments after the Murphy goal. Despite continuous pressure and several scoring chances the Vees couldn’t beat Obernesser to go up by two.
Brooks turned up the pressure in the latter half of the period but couldn’t beat Mike Garteig on any of their eighteen first period shots.
The Bandits continued to pressure the Vees and Garteig in the second period, peppering the goaltender with twelve more shots but couldn’t break the goose-egg. Garteig’s second period performance was highlighted by a miraculous arm save on Cam Maclise; Garteig, with his back to Maclise, lunged out his glove in desperation to knock the puck down. The second was also highlighted by the Vees strong penalty-kill, as they kept the Bandits power-play at bay despite going down short-handed four times.
In the third the Vees thwarted a determined Bandits attack as the home team tried desperately to tie the game. The Vees themselves had several good scoring opportunities off the rush but were stymied by the sharp goaltending of Obernesser who finished with twenty-nine saves.
The Bandits made one final push in the dying seconds of the third, with the extra-attacker but were turned away by several key blocked shots and timely saves from the Vees netminder.
Final Score: 1-0 Vees
Shots: 43-30 Bandits
Power-Plays: Vees 1/6 Bandits 0/7
The series now shifts back to Penticton as the Vees host the Bandits in the final five games of the series if required. Game three goes on Tuesday, April 24th at the SOEC; puck-drop is 7pm
Single game tickets & series packages are available at the SOEC box office or online at www.ValleyFirsttix.com
