Snakes Bounce ‘Backs In Game 4:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Snakes bounce ‘Backs in Game 4

By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star

Published: March 25, 2011

Home-ice advantage hasn’t exactly counted for much in the B.C. Hockey League Interior Conference finals between the Vernon Vipers and Salmon Arm SilverBacks.

After losing two straight to open the best-of-seven series at Wesbild Centre, the Vipers earned back-to-back road wins to pull even with the Gorillas, capped by a gritty 3-2 win in Game 4 Tuesday night at the Sunwave Centre.

The Snakes clung to a precarious one-goal lead in the third period, putting up a defensive wall at their blueline to repel the SilverBack forwards, who opted to carry the puck rather than dump and chase.

When Salmon Arm did gain the zone in the dying minutes, the Snakes collapsed around netminder Kirby Halcrow, blocking shots and racing for rebounds. The frantic action culminated when defenceman Stevie Weinstein threw himself in front of a hard point shot in the final minute which allowed his team to clear the zone and relieve the pressure.

“We kind of realized they don’t like to dump it. They’re a skilled team and they want to come in the zone with possession, so we tried to stand them up,” said Weinstein.

“We didn’t give up and that shows the character of our squad.”

There was more than a hint of pride, and perhaps even a little awe, in Vernon head coach Mark Ferner’s voice as he described his team’s performance.

“It was about sacrifice. All the little details we talked about all year long came to the forefront tonight. I’m extremely proud of our effort,” he said.

The Snakes had a scary moment in the opening minute as Bryce Kakoske gloved a puck in the neutral zone. As he turned to drop it he ran headfirst into a wall by the name of Brett Knowles. Kakoske was dazed as he left the ice, but returned later in the period.

The Vipers, who held the Gorillas to just one shot in the opening 10 minutes, opened the scoring five minutes into the first frame when Marcus Basara capped an odd-man rush with Patrick McGillis.

With just five defencemen dressed for Game 4, the Viper blueline endured some adversity when Ryan Renz earned a misconduct for an elbow to the head of David Killip. Malcolm Lyles then put Vernon down to three d-men for a cross-checking minor.

Halcrow (19 saves) stood tall on the penalty kill, making a nice cross-crease glove save on Jarryd Ten Vaanholt. In the final minute of the first, he came up with a game-saver on Brad Reid.

Kris Moore recorded 26 stops for the Gorillas.

The SilverBacks, playing in front of a packed house (1,645 fans), stormed back in the second frame on a pair of goals by rookie Bryce Gervais. He scored his first with a lethal wrister from the top of the circle. His second came off a gorgeous stretch pass from Charlie Vasaturo, who sent the rookie forward in alone on Halcrow.

With the momentum seemingly in the home team’s favour, Vernon capitalized on a few defensive lapses by Salmon Arm late in the second period. Goals 26 seconds apart by Lyles and Trevor Fitzgerald, with a minute left in the period, put Vernon back in front.

Lyles appeared to score a buzzer beater as the Vipers crashed Moore’s net in the dying seconds of the second period, but after conferring with their linesmen, referees Steve Papp and Kris Hartley waved the goal off.

“Save for a brain cramp for a minute in the second period...I thought we were exceptional on the night. Vernon played a terrific game as well,” said Salmon Arm head coach Tim Kehler.

“It’s a hard one to swallow. When you invest that much physically and emotionally, they’re hard to lose.”

The ‘Backs have yet to lose a game at Wesbild this season, and were confident they could rebound in Game 5, which went Thursday night at Wesbild. Game 6 goes tonight at the Sunwave. If necessary, Game 7 would go Saturday in Vernon.

“This game is over, we can’t think about it anymore. We’ve just got to get ready for Game 5 in Vernon. We’ve had success there all year, so we should be fine,” said SilverBack forward Paul De Jersey.

SNAKE BITES: The Vipers were without defencemen Max Mowat and Phil Patenaude, and forward Colton Sparrow in Game 4, all due to injury. Forward John Knisley left Tuesday’s game after taking a puck to the ear, requiring a dozen stitches. Both Knisley and Sparrow were game-day decisions for Game 5...Steven Schmidt collected the winner on a deflection as the Powell River Kings outlasted the Surrey Eagles 2-1 in triple overtime in Game 4 of the Coastal Conference final. The Kings led the series 3-1 heading into Game 5 Thursday.