Murphy Sparks Viper Road Win:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Murphy sparks Viper road win

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-10-09

Dylan Walchuk was on a flydown to Northern Michigan University, so Kyle Murphy stepped in with a strong game in the Vernon Vipers’ 4-1 win over the Westside Warriors.

Murphy, who played NCAA hockey last year for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, recorded a goal and two assists and was a rock defensively. An accomplished faceoff artist, he won several important draws when the Vipers were shorthanded.

He set up goals by Bryce Kakoske and David Robinson on a Viper line of three 20-year-olds.

Kakoske’s goal came against the run of play, at 8:55 of the first period. The Warriors had been pressing the issue in the Viper zone, but Elliott Richardson headmanned the puck to Kyle Murphy on the right wing. Murphy fed Kakoske in the slot, whose first move gave him time to rip a shot that went in off Cam Gorchynski’s left shoulder.

From that point in the opening period, the Vipers had more of the play, but the Warriors equalized on a Matthew Maher breakaway.

As Maher stepped out of the penalty box, Malcolm Lyles missed the net with a hard shot that caromed off the Westside back boards, directly to Maher. He stickhandled the puck past Blake Voth and the teams ended the period tied.

Prior to Maher’s goal, the Warriors thought they had scored on a bizarre play. Isaac Berglund’s floater from centre ice bounced off Elliott Richardson and then off Blake Voth. However, referee Andrew Guest disallowed the goal because of a delayed Warrior offside.

The Vipers went ahead at 4:25 of the second, courtesy of a turnover created by Mike Zalewski. When goalie Gorchynski and a Warrior defenceman got their wires crossed behind the Westside goal, Zalewski nipped in to steal the puck and to find Aaron Hadley in front.

Kyle Murphy doubled the Viper lead with a power play marker at 16:18. Working in tandem with Zalewski, he buried his own rebound and the Vipers had some breathing room.

Two penalty calls in the period had a bearing on the game’s outcome. Leading to the Murphy goal, Warrior sniper Grayson Downing was penalized two minutes and ejected for checking from behind.

An over-reaction by the referee led to a major penalty and a game misconduct being issued to Aaron Hadley with 1:12 remaining in the middle frame. Hadley laid a hard shoulder check that left defenceman Isaac Berglund prone on the ice.

During the ensuing five-minute advantage, the Warriors were unable to penetrate the Vipers’ defensive wall, which basically settled the game’s outcome.