Anselmo Rego scored shorthanded in overtime as the Penticton Vees came back to beat the Vernon Vipers in the first game of the playoffs’ second round on Friday, April 19.
The rookie forward scored his second of the night at 1:40 of the extra frame, capping off Penticton’s three-goal comeback after the team had trailed 3-1 in the second period.
Penticton leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
“He [Rego] showed great patience on that play to outwait the defenceman to give himself a chance to get that shot off and end overtime quickly,” said Matt Miller,” the Vees’ director of hockey operations.
Billy Renfrew and Callum Arnott also scored for Penticton, who has won five straight games to open the 2024 BCHL Playoffs.
Owen Kim, Carson McGinley and Noah Dorey found the back of the net for Vernon.
Vees goaltender Will Ingemann made 21 saves and recorded his third win of the playoffs.
His counterpart, Vipers netminder Ethan David, stopped 31 shots.
Kim opened the scoring 63 seconds into the game, giving the Vipers a 1-0 lead and silencing the more than 2,300 at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
After Rego scored his first of the night to tie the game, Vernon used a marker from McGinley and entered the middle frame up 2-1.
Dorey extended the Vipers’ lead to 3-1 early in the middle frame, before Renfrew replied on the power play for Penticton.
Vernon was clinging to its 3-2 advantage until 17:58 of the third period when Arnott banked in his shot from the wall off of David’s pads and into the net to force overtime.
Vees defenceman Brock Reinhart took a boarding penalty with 11 seconds left in the third frame, which carried over into the overtime period and preceded Rego’s shorthanded winner.
The teams meet again on Saturday night, April 20, at the SOEC for Game No. 2 of the second-round series.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
READ MORE: Here’s what’s happening this weekend in Penticton