Vipers Beat Vees Again:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers beat Vees again

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-01-02

In another tight game between the Vipers and the Penticton Vees, the Vipers won, 3-1, at home on Saturday.

The Vipers have now won four of the five meetings between these teams this year, with the other game tied.

Kyle Murphy scored the winning goal at 13:04 of the second period, diving to poke in a rebound of Marcus Basara’s shot. Todd Skirving’s chip sprung Basara free on the right wing and the speedy graduate of the Notre Dame Hounds Midget program fired a hard shot that goalie Joel Rumpel could only parry.

After the game, Basara said that he is “making a conscious effort to shoot more, instead of trying to make the perfect play. In Midget, I had time to make the fancy plays, but here the defenders close on you quicker.”

Basara played on a line with Murphy and Bryce Kakoske, replacing veteran David Robinson who missed his second straight game as a precautionary measure. Robinson suffered a head injury when checked into the glass by Salmon Arm’s Clint Atkinson on Wednesday.

The Vipers’ first goal was also scored in the second period. At 6:28, Darren Nowick notched his team’s ninth short handed goal when he went to the net to tap in a rebound that resulted from Pat McGillis’s shot.

The play started when Adam Thompson lobbed the puck out of his zone. McGillis plucked the disk out of the air at centre ice and crossed the blue line with Nowick hustling to create a two-on-one.

The Vees potent power play, which generated just two scoring chances during their five power plays, scored on one of those opportunities at 14:43.

Joey Laleggia’s point shot missed the net to the left, but came right to Brendan O’Donnell, 10 feet from Blake Voth’s crease. O’Donnell snapped it top corner before Voth had a chance to move.

That was the only shot to beat Voth, who made some sensational saves in the third period to preserve the Viper lead. Two saves in particular had the crowd buzzing.

Off the draw, Mark Hall snapped a shot to the top corner, but Voth’s lightning fast glove caught it. Then with two minutes remaining, a fortuitous bounce off the back boards gave Joey Benik a glorious chance to equalize. However, Voth’s instant reaction allowed the puck to glance off his blocker.

“I was just trying what I saw [Andrew] Hammond do a couple of years ago. And Gordo [Graeme Gordon] did the same thing last year in the playoffs. They call it the spoke, I guess, where you wheel your two arms and two legs and hope for the best. I call it the windmill.”

Pat McGillis’s strong individual effort with 23 seconds remaining won a puck battle and scored an empty net goal to seal the victory.

Coach Jason Willamson called the game “a playoff-type win. For those guys who haven’t played a playoff game at the Jr. “A” level, this was a good indication of what you have to do to win playoff games.”

The two teams now share top spot in the Interior Division with 55 points each and 19 games remaining. They will meet each once more in the regular season, February 5, in Vernon.

Game Notes:

 Joey Laleggia now has a 12-game point scoring streak.

 Kyle Murphy has points in each of the last four Viper games.

 Blake Voth has allowed just five goals in the five games he’s played against Penticton this season.

 The Vees will now spend the rest of January playing Coast Division teams, including a gruelling trip to Powell River and Vancouver Island that will see them play five games in six days.

 The Vipers will finish their schedule playing 12 of their remaining 19 games at home.