Vipers Rebound To Beat Trail:

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Vipers rebound to beat Trail

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-10-16

After a tough 3-2 loss Friday in Trail, where the Vipers outplayed the Smoke Eaters, Vernon rebounded at home on Saturday for a 3-1 victory.

In an ironic twist, the visitors once again scored an early power play goal, only to fall behind to the home team.

Just 31 seconds into the game, Travis St. Denis converted Sam Mellor’s pass that came from near the back boards. But that was all the Smoke Eaters would get, as the Vipers restricted them to just 19 shots and 6 scoring chances in the game.

The Vipers weren’t much more offensive minded, as they generated 18 shots and 9 scoring chances in the contest.

Unlike the previous evening, when they bombarded Kiefer Smiley but could score only twice, they took advantage of their chances against Matt Larose.

Trail coach, Jim Ingram, started the young backup because “Kiefer’s pretty tired after last night. Also, I want to get the team to play harder in front of their goalie. They owe Matt support after that 9-1 loss to Westside.”

The Smokies came out of the gate with speed and physical play, and the first period featured lots of hitting, 18 by the Vipers and 12 by the Smoke Eaters.

The Vipers were a little flat until a dominating shift by rookie Colton Sparrow, who threw three hard hits during the shift. His energy seemed to wake up the Vipers and three shifts later David Robinson took a two-foot pass from Bryce Kakoske behind the extended Trail goal line and bulled his way to the net to beat Larose at 8:20.

Just over two minutes later, Vernon native Max Mowat scored his first BCHL goal while Travis St. Denis was in the sin bin. His point shot deflected slightly on its way past Larose. Showing confidence in his rookies, Mark Ferner had Mowat and Brett Corkey manning the points.

The rest of the period saw ebb and flow, as the Vipers and the Smoke Eaters took turns jumping out of their end with dangerous rushes. However, most of them broke down before they could result in good scoring chances.

The last two periods settled into a defensive struggle with occasional hopeful stretch passes that went for icing. The pattern suited the Vipers just fine, as they won about 70 percent of the faceoffs.

The best scoring chance of the second period came just as John Knisley stepped out of the penalty box. Three Vipers steamed into the Trail zone with one defender back. Knisley took a pass but the puck rolled on him and he blasted his shot over the net.

The third period featured two great scoring opportunities. The Vipers converted theirs; the Smokies did not.

Malcolm Lyles scored a beauty at 12:16. He started the play with a pass from his blue line to John Knisley and then hustled like crazy to get a return pass in front of Larose. He drew an ovation from the Viper faithful as he dived to sweep the puck in.

With about four minutes remaining, BCHL leading goal scorer Sam Mellor (17 in 16 games) found himself alone in front of Blake Voth. He made a good move, but Voth stuck with him to make a sensational save.

Voth was ready for the move, which Mellor had used to score the overtime winner agsinst rthe Vipers two weeks ago in Trail.

Game Notes:

• Fueling speculation that they are about to trade another veteran defenceman, Trail sat a healthy Steve Koshey for the second game in a row.

• Steve Oursov, who is at home contemplating his hockey future, was also scratched by Trail.

• Philip Patenaude came back into the lineup for Vernon, as fellow defenceman Elliott Richardson was a healthy scratch. Gus Correale and Todd Skirving also were in the press box.

• The Vipers now prepare for Parents’ Weekend, with games in Penticton on October 22 and home games on October 23 and 24.

• Trail’s next game will be at home on Wednesday versus Alberni Valley.

• The two teams are once again tied for third place in the Interior Division with 19 points each.