Capitals Surprise Vipers:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Capitals surprise Vipers

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-10-02

In a game that was painful to watch in its early stages, the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals got a third period goal from Mike Hammond to defeat the Vernon Vipers 4-2, on Saturday.

Hammond’s winner came at 10:08 of the third period when Jackson Garrett’s hopeful wrister from the left boards glanced off Hammond’s body and past goalie Bryton Udy.

Three minutes later, Hammond was also involved in the Capitals’ insurance marker. At the tail end of a strong rush, Nicholas Wong threw the puck at a crowd in front of Udy. Hammond was announced as the goal scorer, but Troy Paterson was later given credit for banging in a loose puck.

The Capital goals ran counter to the run of play, as the Vipers out shot the Caps 32-17 in the final two periods and had 8 quality scoring chances in the third period.

Their best chances came on the power play in the third period, especially during a 5 on 3 man advantage for 95 seconds. As is often the case when a team kills off a two-man disadvantage, the Capitals’ young goaltender, Derek Dun, was the difference, making one tough save after another.

In particular, Dun robbed Kyle Murphy twice from in close.

After a lackluster first period, the Vipers started the second period on the power play that backfired when a Capital clearing shot took a strange bounce off the boards behind Bryton Udy and came right in front where 15-year-old Austin Evans happily tucked in his first BCHL goal at 0:16.

The Caps made the score 2-0 at 6:50. Dante Godinho and Shawn Mueller stole the puck at centre ice and Chase Kaiser converted Godinho’s pass.

The Vipers continued to press, however, and scored two power play goals to tie the score. After good work by Mike Zalewski in the offensive zone, John Knisley took Adam Thompson’s pass and slid a low shot past Derek Dun at 8:02.

Thompson followed with a low slapper from the high post at 17:30 that beat Dun off the inside of the goal post to Dun’s right.

After the game, Thompson commented that “last year I was teased for hitting so many posts, so this year I’m taking my mom’s advice and trying to hit the inside of the post.”

There was a long delay between the second and third periods because the Zamboni broke down.

However, the delay didn’t seem to bother the Vipers as they came out with renewed vigour and tested Dun sorely. The 16-year-old netminder held the fort, something that the Capitals have lacked in recent games, and Dale Purinton’s squad registered its first road win of the year.

Game Notes:

• The Viper captain, David Robinson, missed his second straight game to be the best man at a family wedding.

• The Caps’ Brendan MacDonald served the second game of a suspension earned for his antics

at the end of Wednesday’s game in Trail.

• Nick Amies, Cowichan’s captain, continued to be out of the lineup with post concussion symptoms.

• Thompson’s goal was his first of the season. He, too, has missed games because of a concussion suffered in the pre-season.