Gorillas Stun Snakes In Overtime:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Gorillas stun Snakes in overtime

The shift after a goal is sometimes as important as the goal itself. The Vernon Vipers learned that in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Salmon Arm SilverBacks in Game 1 of the B.C. Hockey League Interior Conference final Friday night at Wesbild Centre.
The Snakes looked primed to grind out a regulation win in front of 3,000 fans after Chris Crowell pounced on a rebound to fire the go-ahead goal, his second of the night, past netminder Bryan Gillis at 16:14 of the third period.
On the very next shift, the Vipers sat back as Salmon Arm’s Zac Rasmussen snapped a low shot just inside the post to beat Andrew Hammond 38 seconds later to force OT.
Game 2 went Saturday night at Wesbild. Games 3 and 4 go Tuesday and Wednesday night (7:30) respectively at the Sunwave Centre in Salmon Arm.
“It was a weird game,” said Rasmussen, who netted the winner with a great deflection on Greg Noyes’ point shot at 6:24 to earn first star. “Everybody came out slow. It was kind of boring, it wasn’t really like a playoff game. Everybody played like it was the first week of September.
“The (elimination round) bye helped, but that last week kinda hurt because all the emotion from beating Westide (Warriors) just ended. It was a long layoff.
“I got my legs going as the game wore on, and got my rhythm back.”
Hammond (39 saves) had to be sharp early as Colin Lidster tested him on a wraparound 30 seconds into the first frame. He then stopped Mark Zengerle point-blank from the slot midway through the first.
The Vipers managed just three shots on Gillis (24 saves) in the first period, but managed to score on one of them. It was the first time in 13 games the Vipers have been outshot.
Vipers’ forward Mike Collins took a heavy hit from behind from Matt Walters as he fired on net. Crowell tipped it past Gillis.
“We didn’t really play our best tonight, but it’s a best-of-seven for a reason,” said Crowell. “At times we played well, but you need a 60-minute effort to get the win against a team like that.
“Give them credit. They competed hard and took one out of our building.”
Salmon Arm head coach Rylan Ferster doesn’t expect things to get any easier as the series wears on.
“It’s the first of four, not the first of one,” said Ferster. “I thought they played well, and it boiled down to one shot. We were fortunate tonight to get that hockey bounce.
“They’re such a good defensive team, you have to get some pucks in their corners and try to get some pressure on them because they’re a team that makes plays in their own end, and they don’t give up a whole lot.”
Midway through the second frame, Keenan Desmet looked to have Hammond beat in close, but the Vernon keeper reached back with a second effort to glove the puck out of the air before it crossed the line.
The ‘Backs kept testing Vernon’s defence, as Travis Briard undressed d-man Kyle Bigos before dishing off to Matt Grassi, who lost the handle on a wide open net.
Then, with Brent Vandenberg on a clear breakaway, Viper d-man Kevin Kraus came flying back to break up the play with a good stick.
Salmon Arm’s Bobby Lipsett, on a pass from Briard in the corner, finally beat Hammond at 16:36 of the second.
“We were lucky to be as close as we were,” said Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner. “It seemed like we were chasing pucks all night long. We sat around and watched them play there for a while.
“They got pucks to the net, and we didn’t. We had lots of opportunities to do that, we just didn’t do it.
“You can’t play a mediocre game against a hockey team like Salmon Arm because they’ll come back and bite you.
“We’ve been in this situation before, and I expect our guys to come out with a heck of a lot better effort than we did tonight.”
After calling five minors in the first period, referee Jim Maniago kept the whistle in the pocket for the final 40 minutes.
Fans were outraged when the Vipers’ Rob Short took a knee-on-knee hit from Mitch Chapman behind the play midway through the second. After requiring help off the ice, Short returned to action by the end of the period.
Meanwhile, Clay Harvey pocketed the winner 9:13 into OT as the Powell River Kings upended the host Victoria Grizzlies 5-4 in Game 1 of the Coastal Conference final Friday night at Bear Mountain Arena.
Netminder Carsen Chubak turned aside 39 shots for the Kings, who managed 28 shots on Grizz keeper Anthony Grieco.
Goals by Ben Schmidt and Darcy Oakes gave the Kings a one-goal lead heading into the third period, however, Justin Courtnall tied things up at 5:58 to force OT.

SNAKEBITES: Former Viper Justin Palazzo earned an assist as the host Kamloops Storm grounded the Sicamous Eagles 3-1 to win their best-of-five Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Okanagan Conference final 3-2 Friday night. The Storm fired three unanswered goals before Garret Earley countered for the Eagles. Kamloops now faces the Nelson Leafs for the KIJHL Championship in a best-of-seven series.