Trail Battles, But Vipers Prevail:

Trail battles, but Vipers prevail

by Don Klepp -Sep 20, 2009

For the second straight game, the Vernon Vipers scored three times on the power play and once short handed to overcome the Trail Smoke Eaters. On Saturday night in Vernon, Trail’s goalie, Garrett Beckwith, kept the game close well into the third period, but three late goals gave the Vipers a 5-1 win. As he had in the two wins over Salmon Arm last weekend, Mike Collins opened the scoring for the Vipers. On the power play, he was set up by Braden Pimm and Kevin Kraus at 1:16 of the second period. Tye Lewis, who has figured in three of the four goals scored by Trail in three games this season, equalized for Trail at 10:28. He was fed by the energetic Scott Jacklin. Before the period was over, however, Sawyer Mick put the Vipers ahead. On the power play at 18:47, he scored his first BCHL goal. It was an early birthday present for the Vernon product, who turns 18 on Tuesday. Patrick McGillis drew an assist on the play, his first BCHL point. The other helper went to Steve Weinstein, who’s looking very comfortable on the Viper power play. The three-goal second period followed a scoreless opening 20 minutes that featured solid goal tending by Beckwith and Vernon’s Graeme Gordon. Trail competed hard as Jim Ingram’s team built on the previous night’s solid third period. In the third, the Vipers dominated, out shooting Trail 19-5. Still, they were unable to beat Beckwith until midway through the final frame. Kevin Kraus, the game’s first star, potted yet another Viper power play goal at 10:47, assisted by second star Braden Pimm and Mike Collins. A minute later, Cole Ikkala finished off a play with Dylan Walchuk and Sawyer Mick. The game’s exclamation point was provided by Cory Kane’s short handed goal at 18:47. Captain Kevin Kraus, with his third point of the night, assisted along with Jonathon Milhouse. It was Kane’s second short handed tally of the weekend, and his fourth goal overall, as the big Californian settles into his new role as a power winger. Once again, the Vipers exploited Trail’s inexperience on the back end. The Smoke Eaters have just two veteran defencemen, Graeme Strukoff, and Steve Koshey. Also, Koshey and rookies Wade Bennett and Marc-Antoine Chaput are undersized – they average 5’ 8” and 170 pounds – so they had difficulty handling power forwards such as Cory Kane, Cole Ikkala, Sawyer Mick, and Brendan Persley. The Viper regular season and playoff winning streak now sits at 15, dating back to last year’s playoff run. Meanwhile, Trail has lost 19 straight BCHL games, including 16 at the end of the 2008-2009 season. Still, the Smoke Eaters battled gamely against a more experienced and deeper Viper squad. Things will not get any easier for the Smoke Eaters their next game is Thursday in Westside. Next weekend, Trail and Vernon will each host the Quesnel Millionaires and the new Williams Lake Timberwolves.