Smiley Stymies Vipers:

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Smiley stymies Vipers

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-10-16

Kiefer Smiley’s sparkling save on Bryce Kakoske’s labeled shot with 28 seconds remaining in the third period allowed his Smoke Eaters to escape with a 3-2 victory Friday in Trail.

With Blake Voth on the bench for an extra attacker, the Vipers won a faceoff in the Trail zone and Kakoske had a clear shot that would have zipped in to the top corner had it not been for Smiley’s lightning fast glove.

The save was his 44th of the game, one of several spectacular stops.

In the first half of a home and home weekend, the Vipers ended the game the way they started, dominating in time of possession and shots. In the first period, they had registered eight shots before Trail had one.

On an early power play, Vernon took a 1-0 lead. At 6:37, Smiley could not smother Malcolm Lyles’s low point shot and Patrick McGillis beat defenceman Curtis Tonello to the puck.

After the McGillis goal, the Vipers continued to press, but one Smoke Eater play turned the game around. The line of Beau Blanaru, Matt Laboucane, and Joey Baker outworked the Viper defenders after a line rush had broken down, and Blanaru banged in a rebound at 10:59.

That goal seemed to open the floodgates as the Smokies scored twice more within six minutes.

First, a lovely three-way passing play initiated by Scott Jacklin and Travis St. Denis culminated in a Sam Mellor power play goal. Mellor sneaked in unnoticed to receive Jacklin’s back door feed at 13:46.

Jacklin was the recipient of a Jake Baker stretch pass three minutes later. With both Viper defencemen on one side of the ice, Jacklin had an open left wing and he fired a shot over Blake Voth’s left shoulder at 16:26.

The Smoke Eaters could have had more in the period. During a power play, Jacklin put a backhand past Voth but the puck hit both posts and stayed out. Then, Mellor deflected a point shot that just skimmed by Voth’s left post.

The Vipers regrouped to dominate the second period and much of the third. Aided by three straight power plays early in the second, they out shot Trail 21-4 in the middle frame. However, on one scoring chance after another, Kiefer Smiley held the fort.

David Robinson’s short handed backhand shot was the only one to beat Smiley in the period, but it bounced off the bottom of the post and Trail went into the second intermission ahead, 3-1.

Robinson finally got a puck by Smiley at 9:44 of the final period. Kyle Murphy won a battle along the right boards and passed to Adam Thompson at the point. His low slapper bounced off Smiley’s right goal pad and Robinson fought his way to the net to deposit the rebound.
The Robinson goal set the stage for an exciting finish, and the Smoke Eaters nearly paid the price for twice missing the Viper open net. Smiley’s late heroics saved the day.

The teams resume their hostilities in Vernon on Saturday evening.

Game Notes:

 Jake Baker, who came from Victoria this week on a trade for Graeme Strukoff, had a strong game for Trail.

 David Robinson, whose second period fight with Eric Walker was just the second Viper scrap of the season, came close to a Gordie Howe hat trick.

 Marcus Basara returned to the Viper lineup after missing three games due to illness.

 Trail product Dallas Calvin, a 16-year-old called up from the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, played well for the Smoke Eaters.