Halcrow Outstanding As Vipers Overrun Warriors:

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Halcrow outstanding as Vipers overrun Warriors

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-03-15

Kirby Halcrow’s standout goaltending held the Westside Warriors at bay long enough for the Vernon Vipers to find their scoring touch in a 7-1 rout at Vernon’s Wesbild centre.

Kevin Boyle, a difference-maker in the Warriors’ game 2 and game 3 wins, matched Halcrow save for save in an exciting first period. His saves stymied David Robinson and Aaron Hadley, while Halcrow stoned Dru Morrison and Alex Grieve. In the period, the Vipers generated seven scoring chances and the Warriors fashioned six, during frenetic end to end action.

That trend continued in the second period, with open ice play that must have given the coaches fits. Marcus Basara went right in on Boyle early in the period, but Boyle smothered the attempt.

Then, during a Westside power play Halcrow absolutely robbed Grayson Downing, Dru Morrison, and Kyle Singleton to prevent Westside from scoring that all-important first goal.

Halcrow, who has started back-to-back for the first time since he joined the Vipers on January 10, said that he is “starting to feel very comfortable and confident in net.” He added, “I really like the playoffs, the energy, the excitement.”

The scoreless contest was finally pried open at 8:30 when David Robinson wheeled and beat Boyle with a backhand from a tight angle about 15 feet from the net.

Two more scoring plays gave the Vipers a 3-0 lead and led to Boyle leaving with what appeared to be a hamstring problem. The first came at 13:10. Passes from John Knisley and Darren Nowick gave Mike Zalewski a clear path to the net and he corkscrewed Boyle into the ice with some lightning fast stickhandling.

At 14:23, with Kyle Singleton in the penalty box, Dylan Walchuk’s crisp, alert pass found Patrick McGillis alone to the right of Boyle, who collapsed in pain after failing to move quickly enough across his crease.

It’s possible that the muscle problem had originated during the Zalewski goal. In any event, Boyle had to be helped off the ice and Cole Holowenko took over. He gave up a goal to Darren Nowick at 17:50 and three more in the third period.

The last two Viper goals, scored by Adam Thompson and Dylan Walchuk, came on a Viper 5 on 3 power play that resulted from Tyler Brickler’s high sticking penalty at 6:20 and Alex Grieve’s elbowing major at 6:58. Coach Darren Yopyk added to his team’s problems by taking a bench minor following the call on Grieve.

Earlier in the period, Patrick McGillis had picked off a Brayden Sherbinin pass at the Westside line and had gone in to undress Holowenko.

After the three Viper goals the only issue was whether Kirby Halcrow would get an well-earned shutout. He was denied that achievement when Tyler French scored a power play goal through traffic at 19:02.

The man advantage, Westside’s third of the game, resulted from an ill-advised attempt by Ryan Renz to check Tyler Krause at the Westside blue line. Krause sidestepped Renz, whose knee caught Krause’s knee or thigh. Krause was helped from the ice and Renz was given a major and a game misconduct.

Following the game, it was unclear whether Grieve or Renz would be suspended for Tuesday’s sixth game of the series. Grieve’s absence would be a big loss for the Warriors, who will try to stave off elimination.

Game Notes:

• Westside’s Grayson Downing returned to action, although Shawn Hochhausen served the second of his two-game suspension and Isaac Berglund’s injury kept him out of the game.

• David Robinson, Mike Zalewski, Darren Nowick, and Adam Thompson each scored their first goal of these playoffs.

• Six Vipers (Walchuk, Nowick, Basara, McGillis, Kakoske, and Thompson) had two-point nights.

• In the five games in this series, the Vipers have out shot the Warriors, 190-108.