Kings Stop Vipers In Overtime:

This was on the Morning Star web site:

Kings stop Vipers in overtime

With their all-stars silent, the Powell River Kings looked to their role players for clutch offence in a 3-2 overtime win over the Vernon Vipers Tuesday night before 2,200 fans at the Wesbild Centre.
The Vipers lead the B.C. Hockey League best-of-seven Fred Page Cup championship series 2-1. Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Vernon.
Jordan Grant took a drop pass from enforcer Kyle Leahy and beat Viper goalie Andrew Hammond with a soft wrister from the mid slot at 4:05 of the extra period. It was the first shot of overtime, and came after the Vipers had controlled the early portion of OT with some stellar cycling down low.
"I was just trying to shoot there and got it on net and got a lucky bounce, and it rolled in," said Grant, an 18-year-old Ladysmith product who asked the lowly Merritt Centennials for a trade at the dealing deadline. "That's the biggest goal of my career, that's for sure."
Grant's line opened the scoring at 3:31 of the first period when they stormed the net after winning a battle deep in the Viper zone. Leahy whacked in his third of the playoffs with Grant and Neil Chambers earning assists.
"It was great overall," said Grant, who sniped 20 goals during the regular season. "Our line, down low, we're pressuring a lot and it's going great right now. Around the net, we haven't been going to the net for rebounds and stuff. We're not taking the right shots and we're not getting our shots through."
Hammond went cross crease and somehow got his left pad on a Grant shot with six minutes left in the first period.
The Vipers equalized on the powerlay two minutes later when Kellen Jones skated hard to the net and converted a Sahir Gill feed, seconds after Connor Jones took a monster hit near the Powell River bench from Chambers.
Connor Jones gave the Snakes the lead four minutes into the middle period, finishing off a play involving Gill and defenceman Mike Leidl after what seemed an hour of dizzy cycling in the Kings' zone.
Powell River d-man Mat Bodie tied it late in the second on a slapshot from the point with nine seconds left in Rob Short's minor penalty. Grant and Andrew Pettit drew helpers.
Grant didn't figure the Vipers showed them anything different in their home building after stealing two games on the Sunshine Coast.
"We weren't prepared for the physical game they brought, and I thought tonight we competed with them in every department and it just worked out. They're a physical team but we're fast."
Powell River head coach Kent Lewis, greeted afterwards by a few former junior A teammates now living in Vernon, was smiling but hardly totally satisfied after the Kings' ninth win of the playoffs.
"I don't think we've been good yet. We're starting to figure out what kind of game we have to play here. We were stupid in Game 2 and unlucky in Game 1, and we had to fight back. We're resilent and we found a way to get it done tonight."
Lewis, who drives the Zamboni as a rink attendant in Powell River, knows his superstars like Darcy Oakes, Erik Vos and Clay Harvey are way overdue for production (no points in series).
"Having the potential is good, but they've just got to get it done. The bottom line is you're only going to go as far as your gunslingers take you, but the gunslingers have been quiet. But like any club at this point of the year, you have to have depth and other guys have to step up, and that's why we acquired Grant, and guys like Leahy are just warriors and they'll do whatever it takes."
The Vipers, who have now dropped their first home game in all three of their post-season series, gave up three goals for the first time since March 25 in Salmon Arm.
"It's disappointing," said Vipers' head coach Mark Ferner. "We had enough chances to win, but we needed more guys. I didn't think we had 20 guys playing as hard as we can and when that happens, it kind of drags you down. That's a good hockey team over there. They're not going to roll over. Just because you win two on the road doesn't mean it's going to be easier at home. They're a good hockey team for a reason. They have a lot of pride and character."
Viper veteran centre Braden Pimm, who received huge applause after a sweet penalty kill shift midway through the second period, felt the Snakes coasted in parts.
"In overtime, we gotta be simple and give 100 per cent, and we didn't do that, and it resulted in a loss," said Pimm. "We didn't play to our full potential. When we were on the road, we did all those little things, and tonight we thought we could come home and it would just happen, but it didn't. Our motto is '23 hearts, one beat.' We need everyone going. Tomorrow night, we better be ready."