Jonny Tychonick netted the winner and Owen Sillinger was named first star as the Penticton Vees opened the season with a 4-2 win in Merritt.

The Vees began their quest to defend their BCHL championship by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the opening two minutes on goals by Sillinger at 1:40 and his brother Lukas Sillinger seven seconds later. The Vees outshot the Centennials 14-9. Cassidy Bowes assisted on the first goal, while Ben Allen assisted on the other.

害羞草研究所淚t was good. You know, sooner or later in this building, you害羞草研究所檙e going to get a couple [of goals] go against you,害羞草研究所� Vees coach-general manager Fred Harbinson said to the Merritt Herald. I knew even though we were up by two a couple of minutes into the game that [the Centennials] would push back. It didn害羞草研究所檛 surprise me that they found a way to come back. We made a couple of errors in the second period.害羞草研究所�

The Centennials cut the lead in half early in the middle frame when Zach Court beat Vees goalie Nolan Hildebrand. Just over five minutes later, Zach Zorn scored the equalizer. Tychonick scored the winning goal at 11:57 on the power play, which went one-for-eight.

害羞草研究所淕etting the powerplay goal was huge, and gave us a lead going into the third,害羞草研究所� said Harbinson. 害羞草研究所淚 thought it was a back-and-forth period in the third. We finally played a little more sound, and didn害羞草研究所檛 give up a lot of shots, and got the goal we needed late.害羞草研究所�

With 56 seconds remaining in regulation, Taylor Ward added an insurance marker after taking a feed from Ryan Sandelin.

Hildebrand finished with 26 saves, while Jacob Berger made 34 saves on 38 shots.

害羞草研究所淗e (Hildebrand) battled through a lot of difficult things with us last year, and was a good soldier for us. He deserved to get the start tonight. Scheel will probably go next Friday. I want both guys to be ready early.害羞草研究所�

Vees take game one 4-2 over the . Final shots 38-28 Vees. Week off as the are up next Friday in SA.

害羞草研究所� Penticton Vees (@PentictonVees)