Vipers Subdue Vees:

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Vipers subdue Vees

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-02-06

Missing seven regulars due to injury, suspension, and the flu, the Penticton Vees still made a game of it as they bowed 3-2 to the Vipers in Vernon on Saturday.

Affiliated players such as defencemen Shane Hanna and forwards Grant Nicholson, Taylor House, and Curtis Kort, stepped into the breach and played well for the Vees. Even though the Vees were outshot 43-15 and had just 9 scoring chances compared to the Vipers’ 16, they kept working.

“You have to give them credit,” said Viper Coach Mark Ferner. “They gave up those two early goals but then they hung around and made things interesting. Their goalie played well, and they were just one shot away from tying it in the third.”

Adam Thompson started the scoring at 3:07 of the first period, converting the back end of a high speed give and go with Marcus Basara. Thompson started the play with a pass to Basara at the red line and then sprinted into the left side of the Penticton zone. Basara’s return pass caught the defenders off guard and Thompson snapped the puck past Billy Faust on the short side.

At 8:48, Patrick McGillis tracked a Brett Corkey shot that went to the left of Faust and came off the back boards. McGillis showed excellent hand-eye coordination as he one-timed the screaming puck before Faust could move to his right.

From that point on, Faust was nearly unbeatable, although he had to face 16 shots in the opening period. The Vipers controlled most of the play, except for a dangerous Penticton power play that kept the puck in the Viper end and created three scoring chances.

The Vees clawed back into the game with a Logan Johnston goal at 5:09 of the second period. Johnston dispossessed a Viper defenceman outside the Viper line and went in with two teammates. He didn’t have a passing lane, so he unleashed an unstoppable wrist shot that went in under the bar.

The Vipers restored their two-goal lead at 18:13 with a power play goal. On the right point, Malcolm Lyles spotted Bryce Kakoske unattended to the left of the Vee goal. Kakoske easily directed Lyles’s slap pass into the open side of the goal.

However, the Vees won the ensuing faceoff and dumped the puck to the back boards. Three Vees converged and the Vipers failed to control the puck. In the scramble that followed, just 13 seconds after the Kakoske marker, Grant Nicholson shovelled the puck past Blake Voth for an unassisted goal.

The third period was mostly an exercise in defending by the Vipers, although Faust had to be at his best to stop a David Robinson shot.

With a minute remaining in the game, Faust went to the bench to make way for an extra forward. The Vees stormed the Viper net, but were able to get only one shot through the Viper wall of defenders.

Game Notes:

• Holka, Milan, Polk, MacMillan, Loik, Johnson, and Betz were left back In Penticton.

• The injured Mike Zalewski and Ryan Renz and a healthy Zach McPhee were the Viper scratches.

• In the season series between the teams, the Vipers won five and tied one, out scoring the Vees 19-7 in the six games.

• Over the six games, the Vees’ second-ranked power play was held to two goals in 17 attempts, while surrendering three short handed goals.

• With the win, the Vipers move eight points ahead of Penticton and Salmon Arm in the race for first place in the Interior Division.

• Salmon Arm has played 53 games, while Penticton has played 54, and the Vipers have 55 in the bank. Salmon Arm has 34 wins; the Vipers and Vees have 33 each. The Vipers have lost 10 in regulation, while the Vees and Silverbacks have each lost 17 in regulation.

• The Silverbacks will host the Vipers on Wednesday. Penticton will head north for three games in Prince George and Quesnel next weekend.

• Vernon has now gone six games without allowing a power play goal.