Vipers Muzzle Bulldogs:

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Vipers muzzle Bulldogs

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-01-20

The Vernon Vipers translated a strong team effort into a 6-3 win in Port Alberni Tuesday night.

Each of the Viper lines scored, with the Jones-Jones-Robinson trio and the production line of Ikkala, Pimm, and Collins each finding the back of the net twice.

The atmosphere at the Weyerhaeuser Arena was electric, with an SRO crowd in attendance to support the Coastal Conference’s runaway leader. The Alberni Valley is excited with a team that had 14 in a row coming into this game, with many of those wins away from the Weyerhaeuser. Also, they had a chance to applaud Mitch MacMillan, who had scored his 50th goal in the Bulldogs’ last game, in Langley on Sunday.

The holiday atmosphere was dampened when Connor Jones scored on a breakaway 32 seconds into the game. David Robinson won a puck battle in his zone and headmanned to Kellen Jones, who saw Connor loose on the left wing. Connor blew by Kevin Ross and beat Frank Slubowski through the pads.

The Vipers continued to send rush after rush in to the Alberni zone, but the Bulldogs worked their way back into the game. After winning a faceoff in the Viper zone, they scored when Ryan Renz’s soft point shot caromed off a Viper defender past Graeme Gordon in the Viper net.

As in the first period, the action was intense in the second, with the Vipers holding the edge in play. The Viper team speed was evident, and the Vipers’ spirited play resulted in two goals.

At 5:31, Braden Pimm fired a high shot past Slubowski after the puck had been won by Mike Collins and Cole Ikkala. The Bulldogs again tried to tie the score by forechecking like mad. The middle frame featured a lot of old-time body checking – each team dished out 15 hits in the second period.

Cole Ikkala gave the Vipers a cushion with a long shot that slipped through Slubowski’s pads at 10:30. It was the Philadelphian’s third goal and sixth point in the two games he has played with Pimm and Collins.

Throughout the first two periods, Dylan Walchuk and Rob Short had each played as hard as they had all season, and their determination paid off when each scored in the third.

At 2:50, Bryce Kakoske spotted Walchuk free on the left wing as the two crossed the blue line. Walchuk’s strong wrist shot beat Slubowski on the short side. Then, at 10:30 Rob Short flew down the right wing, blew by Kevin Rioss, and ripped a shot over Slubowski’s left shoulder for a 5-1 Viper lead. After the game, Short joked that “[he] just closed [his] eyes and let it go.”

At that point, Coach Nolan Graham replaced Slubowski with Scott Lewan, who stopped all seven shots directed his way. The Vipers relaxed a little, but the Bulldogs kept on playing hard and they made the game interesting with goals by Johnny Rogic and Casey Bailey.

Rogic’s tally came at 12:38 as he pumped in a rebound off a Frank Riddle point shot. Two minutes later, Tye Lewis went down the right wing at high speed and took the puck to the net. Graeme Gordon stopped Lewis’s attempt to jam the puck in, but Bailey poked in the loose puck.

The Bulldog super line of Mitch MacMillan, Mark MacMillan, and David Dzuirzynski, which had accounted for 45.8 percent of the Bulldog goals, was held scoreless, although Mitch shot fired shots from every conceivable angle.