Vipers Tame Growling Bulldogs:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers tame growling Bulldogs

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-02-05

“It was just a good old-fashioned hockey game, with a little bit of everything,” said Vernon Coach Jason Williamson after his Vipers prevailed by a score of 4-1 over a determined group of Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday.

“Their squad deserves credit,” said Williamson, “coming into our building and trying to take the game to us. At times they bottled us up pretty well, and Slubowski made some big stops. But in the end our guys found ways to get the puck past him.”

In a hard-hitting first period, the Bulldogs out shot the Vipers 12-6 as they went with an all-out forecheck. Kirby Halcrow was solid for the Vipers. His best stop was on defenceman Connor Varley, on a back door play.

Each team created four scoring chances in the opening frame. Frank Slubowski, who had saved 41 of 42 shots when the teams played to a 1-1 draw December 11 in Port Alberni, absolutely robbed Marcus Basara and John Knisley in the first.

Dylan Walchuk was able to beat Slubowski, with a power play goal at 9:58. On the left side in the Alberni zone, Darren Nowick slipped a puck through to Walchuk, who reached forward to one-hand the disk over the goalie’s catching glove.

In a second period that saw less neutral zone congestion and more end-to-end action, the Vipers had eight scoring chances while the ‘Dogs created five. Each team scored once, but there could have been several more if not for fine goaltending, especially by Slubowski.

The veteran netminder robbed Dane Muench whose backhand was headed top shelf. Then, he stoned John Knisley, who was in all alone.

He couldn’t stop David Robinson’s deflection at 1:40, however. Hustling, Robinson went to the net in the wake of Steve Weinstein’s end to end rush. Robinson was able to get his stick on Weinstein’s backhand pass at the goal mouth.

A couple of minutes later, Bryce Kakoske beat Slubowski, but his wicked wrist shot went off the cross bar.

The Bulldogs then responded with an aggressive three-man forecheck, which netted a Josh Mitchell goal at 4:38. After the Vipers tried to be too fancy at their blue line, Casey Bailey and Dylan Nowakowski set Mitchell loose for a forehand deke and a deft backhand to the top corner.

The middle frame also featured two fights. First, rookies Colton Sparrow and Marley Keca had a spirited but largely harmless bout. Then, veterans David Robinson and Mike Puddifant got into a slugfest where both combatants landed several heavy blows. In the end, Robinson got the better of Puddifant with three blows to the face.

The save of the game came in the third period. The score was 2-1 when Dylan Nowakowski got a short handed breakaway. At high speed, he put a good move on Kirby Halcrow, but Halcrow stayed with it and smothered Nowakowski’s backhand.

Then, goals by Darren Nowick and Kyle Murphy salted the game away for the Vipers. Nowick’s eighth of the season was a real beauty. Streaking down the right wing, he accepted a perfect pass from Malcolm Lyles and rifled the puck over Slubowski’s left shoulder at 12:31.

Murphy found the same spot at the top of the net with a slap shot from the high slot at 14:18.

Game Notes:

• The Bulldogs recorded 29 shots while the Vipers had just 22, which was just the eighth time this season the Vipers have been outshot.

• Tyler Berkholz, whose hit on Phil Patenaude on December 11 sidelined the Viper D-man for six weeks, missed the game with an injury suffered when smashed by Penticton’s Derik Johnson in Sunday’s 7-2 win over Penticton. Johnson was issued a match penalty and a three-game suspension for the hit.

• Former Vipers and local minor hockey products Trent Dorais and Sawyer Mick played physical games for the Bulldogs, as did D-men Connor Varley and Kyle Weber.

• Former Bulldog Ryan Renz had an uneventful game for his new team, although he did register 5 of the Vipers’ 29 hits.

• The Vipers now have 76 points from their 54 games, which puts them 6 points ahead of Penticton and 8 points ahead of Salmon Arm in the race for top spot in the Interior Division. However, the Vees have played 53 games and the Silverbacks have played 52, so all three teams are still in the race.