Vipers Regain Home-Ice Advantage:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers regain home-ice advantage

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-04-07

Faced with the prospect of going down 3-1 in the BCHL final series, the Vernon Vipers evened the series with a 4-2 win over the Powell River Kings in Powell River.

Connor Jones and Sahir Gill led the Vipers, each with a goal and an assist. Together with Kellen Jones, they have now scored five of the Vipers’ seven goals in the four games. The trio established the game’s tone right from the opening shift, as they forechecked and cycled in their patented pattern.

That trend continued for the next several minutes and the Vipers eventually capitalized with a Cory Kane goal at 5:33. Heeding the Viper coaches’ admonition to “keep it simple,” veteran Rob Short chipped a puck past Reid Campbell and beat Campbell to the puck deep in the corner. Short’s centering pass found Cory Kane who was barreling through the slot.

Kane’s one-timed snap shot beat Josh Watson cleanly for the Viper’s first goal in 118 minutes, 57 seconds.

The Viper momentum carried on for a few more minutes, but it was arrested by a string of four Viper penalties. The Kings generated five of their six first-period scoring chances during those penalties.

Excellent goaltending by Graeme Gordon and determined work by the penalty killers kept the Kings at bay, especially during the Kings’ five-on-three advantage.

However, the home team finally did capitalize on their fifth straight power play, at 3:35 of the second period. Consistent pressure by the Kings tired the penalty killers and from a rebound of a Justin Dasilva point shot, Daniel Carr notched his first of the series and 14th of the post-season. The game was now tied.

The euphoria felt by the over-1200 Powell River fans lasted only 21 seconds because Connor Jones once more put the Vipers in front. Sahir Gill won a battle along the left boards and fed Connor in the slot. Connor’s low shot zipped in just inside Watson’s left post.

The Vipers increased their lead late in the period, once again courtesy of the Jones gang. Following Connor’s faceoff win, Adam Thompson fired a point shot that Watson could only parry. Sahir Gill deposited a rebound past Watson for a 3-1 Viper lead.

Six of the first eight penalties issued by referee Colby Smith went to the Vipers, but the tide started to turn midway through the second period. Smith handed out six of his last seven penalties to the Kings, which made it easier for the Vipers to protect their lead in the third period.

However, the Kings converted their sole third-period power play at 14.23, to reduce the lead to one goal. Turning away from Connor Jones’s check, Chad Niddery put a backhand past Graeme Gordon. From that point, the Vipers tightened their checking and the Kings were unable to equalize.
In the previous night’s loss, some of the Vipers had not competed to the level expected by their coaches, When asked if he was satisfied by his players’ effort in Tuesday’s 4-2 win, Coach Mark Ferner replied, “yes.” He added, “we’re not satisfied just because we won. That win is a by-product of the effort, of the process. All our guys competed tonight, which is exactly what we need against a team that gives everything it has to giver.”

Captain Kevin Kraus was felled when blocking a shot in the second period. He had to be helped off the ice, but returned for the crucial third period. He scored an empty net goal at 19:50 to ice the game. When asked about the reason for his team’s success in a critical game, he replied with an obscure rationale: “a special shipment of gel came in from an unexpected source, and the team just gelled tonight.”

The fifth game of the series will start at 7 pm in Vernon on Thursday. Both teams will spend all day travelling on Wednesday and again on Friday, before Saturday’s sixth game in Powell River.