Knisley Beats Spruce Kings In Overtime:

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Knisley beats Spruce Kings in overtime

by viper staff | Added 2011-01-29

John Knisley’s overtime goal gave the Vernon Vipers a 5-4 win over a plucky band of Prince George Spruce Kings in Vernon on Friday.

Knisley, who had registered a goal and an assist in the first period, took a pass from Brett Corkey and sped down the right wing.

Says Knisley, “I thought I saw an opening at the top of the net, so I shot high.” At 1:45 of the first overtime period, the puck went over Kirk Thompson’s right shoulder, igniting relief among the Vipers, who had blown leads of 3-0 and 4-2.

Thompson was beaten three times in the game’s first eight minutes as the Vipers totally dominated in the early going. The shots were 17-2 in the first period.

Pat McGillis, playing with Knisley and Aaron Hadley because of Mike Zalewski’s injury, opened the scoring at 5:17. Aaron Hadley’s stiff check helped John Knisley get a good shot that Thompson stopped but could not control. McGillis pounced on the rebound for his 11th goal of the season.

Fifty-four seconds later, David Robinson and Kyle Murphy would not be denied as they both drove to the goal mouth from behind the net. Robinson finished the play.

At 8:08, John Knisley completed the flurry of goals as he finished off a determined effort by linemates Hadley and McGillis. At that point, PG Coach Dave Dupas called a timeout to settle his
shell-shocked young team

The Vipers seemed satisfied to control play without driving to the net for the remainder of the period, so the Spruce Kings escaped further damage. They then turned the tables in the second period.

Sensing that the Vipers had become complacent, the Spruce Kings mounted a comeback early in the second, working hard on the fore check. That hard work paid off with two goals.

Their pressure caused the Vipers to lose focus in their end, and big Ben Woodley raced in from the point to drive a loose puck past Blake Voth at 5:35. Then, at 6:45, Dustin Bearisto got the final touch in a mad scramble in front of Voth.

It was now Mark Ferner’s turn to call a timeout. Once again, it had the desired effect, as the Vipers had the better of the play in the second half of the period.

They had a glorious chance to increase their lead during a 5-on-3 power play for the full two minutes, but were unable to beat Thompson. Also, Bennett Hambrook and Trevor Esau fearlessly blocked several shots.

Vernon did get a power play goal to make the score 4-2, courtesy of a Steve Weinstein slap shot at 6:51 of the third period. However, the Spruce Kings would not go away, and they tied the game late in the period.

Ben Woodley powered his second of the game at 14:56 after Jujhar Khaira had bulled his way into the Viper zone. Woodley jumped off the blue line and buried a one-timer from 25 feet.

With the goalie on the bench, Prince George tied the game at 19:06. Woodley contributed to this goal as well, as he passed to Chase Golightly at the right point. Golightly’s innocent-looking shot deflected off Connor Tiechko, who had gone to the net after freeing the puck along the left boards.

Stephen Ryan got credit for the goal, though he was not on the ice at the time.

So, in their 17th overtime game of the season, the Vipers got their 5th OT win, to stay a point ahead of Penticton, who squeezed out a 2-1 win in Nanaimo.