Snakes Rally Past Cents:

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Snakes rally past Cents

By Nicole Berg - Vernon Morning Star

Published: February 11, 2010

Much like the reptile stitched on their jerseys, the Vernon Vipers can strike without warning.

Coming out of the first period down a pair of goals to the Merritt Centennials, who trail Vernon by 51 points in the B.C. Hockey League standings, the Snakes lashed out with six straight goals to earn a 7-3 decision Tuesday night at the Wesbild Centre.

The Vipers (45-6-0-3) battle the second-place Penticton Vees (44-7-0-3) tonight at Wesbild. The Vees trail Vernon by two points, and both teams are eager to win the Interior Conference and the first-round playoff bye that comes with it.

Penticton, who hold a 3-1 edge in the season series with Vernon, squeaked by the host Trail Smoke Eaters 6-5 in double overtime on Tuesday.

Vernon hosts the Prince George Spruce Kings (16-34-1-4) Saturday night.

Despite starting the first period on a good note, with defenceman Dan Nycholat collecting his sixth goal of the season, the Vipers started to get lazy and the Cents (20-34-0-2) began peppering rookie netminder Blake Voth (23 saves) with shots.

Third star Jeff Jones (26th and 27th goals) put Merritt in front with a pair of goals, one on the powerplay and one shorthanded.

Lucas Daoust (3rd), a Vernon minor hockey product who now resides in Kamloops, picked up a loose puck and came flying down the wing and wired a shot past Voth.

“It felt awesome to have played my first game in Vernon,” said Daoust. “It was my first game playing against the Vipers so it felt good to play in front of lots of friends and family.

“I grew up dreaming to play for the Vipers so I used every opportunity I could to play the best I could. We really dominated the play in the first period but we got away from our game-plan after that and let them get back into the game and eventually take it over.”

Dauost, who has six points in 12 games, was traded from the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at the trade deadline.

“I really like playing in Merritt. I’ve only been here a short time but the guys are good to get along with and the fans are great so I have no complaints,” said Dauost, who turned 21 on Feb. 1.

Goals by Braden Pimm (24th) and Dave Robinson (8th), with his first of three, pulled the Snakes even after 40 minutes.

First star Robinson (9th and 10th) earned his first hat trick since his Bantam days with a pair of third-period powerplay markers. He was ecstatic with the Vipers’ turnaround.

“It was really nice to finally score a hat trick but the main thing is to contribute to the team and help them win and we did just that tonight,” said the gritty forward.

“For my first goal, Connor (Jones) passed me a nice side shot and I threw the puck on net and my rebound shot went in the empty net. All three of my goals were scored in close near the crease.

“Merritt came out well and we didn’t have an answer for them but in the second period we stuck more to our game-plan and you gotta give Merritt credit, they came out hard, but we popped in a couple goals and came out full force in the third.”

Goals by Jones (second star), with his 33rd, and Robbie Short, with his 20th, rounded out the Viper attack.

“We got off to a good start in the game but unfortunately we got a number of penalties (seven compared to Vernon’s five) and that took the momentum out of the game for us and we weren’t able to recover,” said Merritt head coach Luke Pierce. “It was a really good game up to that point as there was lots of action at both ends and it’s just unfortunate the penalties took away from an exciting game.”

n The North Okanagan Knights are a longshot to make the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoff scene.

After falling 8-2 to the host Sicamous Eagles Wednesday night at the Recreation Centre, the Knights (11-33-0-4) trail the Penticton Lakers (13-30-0-4) by four points for the final Okanagan Division playoff berth.

Michael Keyes and call-up Colton Sparrow handled the Knights’ offence against Sicamous (29-15-0-4), who scored four unanswered goals in the second period. Kyle Clerke, another call-up, pocketed a pair of assists for North Okanagan.

The Knights need to win their remaining two games, starting tonight against the host Posse at the Princeton & District Arena. They wrap up the regular season against the Lakers Wednesday at Nor-Val Sports Centre.

Penticton, who has three games left, needs a single point to clinch the final playoff berth.