Vipers Look To Clinch League Title:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers look to clinch league title

Published: February 18, 2010

The Vernon Vipers can wrap up first place in the B.C. Hockey League with a win over the Salmon Arm SilverBacks tonight at the Sunwave Centre.

If not, they’ll have two more cracks at clinching that all-important first-round playoff bye as they visit the Westside Warriors Saturday night at Royal LePage Place before hosting the Surrey Eagles in a Sunday matinee at Wesbild Centre for their final regular-season game.

The 48-6-0-3 Vipers earned a three-point cushion atop the standings with a 3-2 overtime win over the second-place Penticton Vees Wednesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

First star Kellen Jones (12th) rushed up the left wing in OT and snuck a sharp-angle wrist shot between Vees’ goalie Sean Bonar and the post for the winner before 2,323 fans.

“I’m sure he (Bonar) would want to have that one back,” grinned Jones, who played with the Penticton keeper at the World Junior A Challenge last November in Summerside, P.E.I.

Added Bonar, who made 27 saves: “I definitely wanted it back. He just made a good shot. He beat me low blocker. I should have been quicker to my post.”

A constant string of penalties called by Andrew Guest seemed to stymie any physicality between the two clubs. Penticton (46-8-0-4) went 1-for-8 on the powerplay, while the Vipers were 0-for-5.

“Our team worked really hard on the penalty kill,” said Kellen. “It really upsets the flow of the game but we just clawed our way back with a couple greasy goals. It was a great way to win.

“I think the bye will help us a lot, so these are big games coming up. We need a win for sure.”

Penticton’s Alex Szczechura (27th) opened the scoring with the extra man at 8:47 of the first period, tapping home the rebound off Garrett Milan’s shot from the slot.

“Once we do (get chances), finishing our chances on any team is going to be key through the playoffs,” said Milan. “You’re not going to get as many chances, it will be a tighter game defensively against whoever you play.”

Despite the loss, Milan said the Vees still have confidence they can be successful against their rivals.

“We still have eight of 14 points against them,” said Milan of their 3-1-0-2 record. “We won the season series against them. All of the games have been close. We definitely aren’t scared of them.”

After a scoreless second period, Sahir Gill, with his first goal since rejoining the Vipers in January (scoresheet credits Cory Kane), bounced a shot off a body in front of Bonar to equalize for Vernon early in the third frame.

The Vees’ Bo Dolan restored Penticon’s lead after Eric Filiou won a faceoff back to the blueliner, who picked the top corner through traffic to beat Blake Voth (23 saves).

The Vipers’ David Robinson forced overtime with his 11th goal (scoresheet credits Jones), a backhander that redirected past Bonar.

Vees’ head coach Fred Harbinson liked his team’s effort, noting there wasn’t much they could do about the two redirected goals.

“I thought we played hard,” said Harbinson, noting his team battled with three lines as captain Denver Manderson is still out with a lower body injury. “It was a high tempo game. We know we will be fine. We had a good series.”

Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner was happy to come out of Penticton’s barn with two points. The Vees have lost at home just three times in regulation, and twice in overtime, all season.

“We just needed to get pucks to the net,” said Ferner. “Guys were focused to play within the system. Obviously it’s still a race for first overall. We haven’t had tons of success against Penticton other than the last two games. Morally it was a good victory.”