Saturday, April 16, 2011

Doyle Cup Final: Game 2: Spruce Grove 3 Vernon 2

I was at tonight's Game 2 of the Doyle Cup as Spruce Grove defeated Vernon 3-2 in front of 2,513 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Spruce Grove: Vincenzo Marozzi

1st Period: Spruce Grove come out hard off the opening shift with a few real good early shifts, banging bodies and getting in the Vipers face's. Kyle Murphy would try to deflect a rebound off a point shot but Matthew Benning had Murphy tied up in front. Vernon would get an early powerplay and get a real good chance. With traffic in front, Dylan Walchuk ripped a hard shot from the high slot high and over the net as the Saints would do a pretty good job on the penalty kill killing off the minor. Patrick McGillis would get a real good opportunity at the side of the net but couldnt beat Vincenzo Marozzi who made a nice save. The Saints would get their first powerplay of the night at the midway mark, moving the puck around Bryce Van Brabant tipped a shot from the point that just missed the far corner on the Saints first good scoring chance of the night. Spruce Grove with some good pressure on the man advantage was unable to find the back of the net getting just a single shot on goal. Both teams were fairly even in the first half before the Vipers picked it up a little and were the better team in the second half. Vernon would get a late powerplay as the Vipers struggled early before a harmless looking shot from the point by Malcolm Lyles somehow beat Vincenzo Marozzi at 17:34 giving Vernon the 1-0 lead. Brett Corkey and Mike Zalewski collected the helpers. Vernon is 11-0 in the playoffs when scoring first, while Spruce Grove is 3-2 when giving up the games first goal in these playoffs. Just after Lyles goal, Marcus Basara come back down the right wing and ripped a high shot that Marozzi had troubles with but made the tough save. Marozzi then made a nice glove save off Darren Nowick from the circle. In the dying seconds Ryan Renz with a smart heads up long stretch pass to Vipers captain, David Robinson allowed Robinson to beat the Spruce Grove d-man and get inbehind for the breakaway, but Vincenzo Marozzi come up with a huge save just before the buzzer. The Vipers with a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Spruce Grove 14-5.

2nd Period: On the opening shift Josh Keizer come down the left wing before ripping a hard shot up high on Kirby Halcrow who had troubles holding onto the rebound but made the tough save. The Saints would win the draw allowing Nicholas Bourgeois to beat Halcrow low along the ice just fourty seconds into the middle frame tying the game 1-1. Bryce Van Brabant with the lone assist. The Vipers looked very slow and didnt have alot of jump to start the 2nd period. Spruce Grove on the other hand come out ready to go and really took it too the Vipers early and often. The Saints would get an early powerplay, moving the puck around former Vernon Vipers forward, Brett Switzer was alone at the side of the net beating Kirby Halcrow but ringing his shot off the crossbar as the Saints come very close to grabbing their first lead of the series. The Saints with some good pressure couldnt capitalize as Vernon killed off the minor. Spruce Grove carried the better of the play and was by far the better team as most of the 2nd was in the Vipers zone. Spruce Grove would get their third powerplay of the night and this time finally capitalize. Mat Knoll's point shot hit someone in front of the Vipers net before Kirby Halcrow had to make a big save off David Glen, Halcrow couldnt handle the rebound before former Viper Brett Switzer burried the puck up and over Halcrow at 10:25 giving the Saints a 2-1 lead. Glen and Knoll with the helpers. At this point the Vipers were being outplayed and outshot 14-5. Tempers slowly started to heat up at times in between shifts and stopages in play, wich resulted in some pushing and shoving as well as words being exchanged. Vernon would get their first shot on net in about ten minutes with around three minutes remaining and seemed to pick up their play and carry a little bit of the play in the final few minutes to end the 2nd period. The Vipers with their most pressure of the period cycled the puck down low, creating a few chances that forced the Saints into taking a late penalty. Vernon with the man advantage had a few shots but no real good opportunities. A long shot from the point was stopped by Vincenzo Marozzi at the buzzer as traffic gathered in front of the Saints net, some pushing and shoving started before a few punches were thrown. Bryce Kakoske started exchanging words with Vincenzo Marozzi as a few players got tangled up with one another as tempers heated up once again to end the period. Spruce Grove was all over Vernon and up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. The Saints outshot the Vipers 17-12.

3rd Period: I noticed Kyle Muprhy was not on the Vernon bench to start the 3rd. I didnt see Murphy get hit or injured so Im not too sure when he left the hockey game but Muprhy didnt play the entire 3rd period. Mark Ferner was forced to switch up his lines for the final frame. Vernon would start the final period with the man advantage that was carried over from the end of the 2nd period. The Vipers were unable to do much as Spruce Grove killed off the penalty. Patrick McGillis would get a great chance four minutes into the 3rd but ripped his shot just over the net as the Vipers come very close to tying the game. The Vipers would then get the only powerplay of the period shortly later but struggled as the Saints killed off the penalty. Vernon just couldnt get much going offensively as the Vipers passes were off, pucks getting caught up in skates, players looking dissorganised at times. The Vipers just didnt look sharp and were a different team after the opening period. Spruce Grove on the other hand was doing a very good job at clogging up the neutral zone, forcing the Vipers to make that quick pass or turnover the puck as well as winning the early one on battles and races for the puck. Spruce Grove was also really ontop of Vernon tonight, not giving them a whole heck of alot of room to make that second decision forcing the play. The Saints would get their first real good scoring chance at the midway mark after Kirby Halcrow had to be sharp and alert making two big saves with traffic in front. The Vipers did carry the play at times but again struggled getting anything going, as the play became real scrambly at times in the first half of the 3rd. Ryan Renz tried carrying the puck out of his own end, made one too many moves and then had the puck stolen from him as Scott Allen went in and beat Halcrow glove side at 15:18 giving the Saints a 3-1 lead and in full control. But just under a minute later Patrick McGillis would beat Vincenzo Marozzi at 16:07 making this a one goal game getting the crowd back into the game. Marcus Basara and Malcolm Lyles drew the assists. This goal seemed to give Vernon a little bit of life as the Vipers seemed to get a little jump-energy back into their game. Vernon would carry the better of the play for the remainder of the period creating some good chances. Both coaches called timeout's before the Vipers waited a while to get Kirby Halcrow to the bench. Halcrow would finally get to the Vipers bench for the extra attacker with 1:14 remaining. Some good battles going on in front of Vincenzo Marozzi as tempers heated up in the final minute. The Vipers with some good pressure down low, moved the puck around well getting a few good chances. Spruce Grove was battling real hard down low but couldnt clear the zone. With 54 seconds remaining Vincenzo Marozzi come up with a game saver making a huge pad save with David Robinson and Patrick McGillis in close. The Vipers come close but couldnt tie the game as Spruce Grove picks up a huge 3-2 victory tying the series 1-1 with Game going tomorrow night at the Wesbild Centre. Vernon outshot Spruce Grove 13-7.

Top Players: (Vernon)

Brett Corkey (1 assist) I thought Corkey played another strong game on the Vipers backend.

Patrick McGillis (1 goal) For the second straight game, Patrick McGillis played a strong game up front for Vernon. McGillis who had troubles in the opening game of this series to find the back of the net, finally scored one tonight. McGillis battled and competed hard all night.

Top Players: (Spruce Grove)

Felix Antoine Poulin for the second straight night played very well on the Saints blueline.

David Glen (1 assist) Looked very good up front for Spruce Grove. Glen battled hard all night.

Scott Allen (1 goal) This kid played a heck of a hockey game, was a work horse for the Saints. Used his body and skill to control alot of the play. Was the Saints best player this evening. Was very hard to knock off the puck.

Josh Keizer also played very well up front. Keizer was involved in the play on several occasions.

Brett Switzer (1 goal) The former Vernon Viper forward looked very good for the Saints tonight. Switzer who didnt really stand out in last night's Game 1, 3-1 loss looked very good tonight. Hit the crossbar on a 2nd period powerplay and was in and around the net most of the net. Was good at both ends of the rink.

Brent Henke was another veteran defenceman that played very well for the Saints. Was very strong defensively all night.

Vincenzo Marozzi (37 saves) Didnt have alot of traffic or bodies in front of him tonight but come up with the big saves when needed. I think Marozzi would like to have Malcolm Lyles powerplay goal back. Lyles harmless looking pointshot looked to maybe have fooled Marozzi. Made some nice saves in the 1st and 3rd periods. Marozzi really improved on his rebound control tonight, after giving out a ton of rebounds in Game 1.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

I thought the Vipers looked and played very well in the opening period but were a totally different team in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Vipers who got better as the 1st period went along grabbed the all important 1-0 lead, outshooting the Saints 14-5 but come out flat to start the 2nd period. Giving up an early goal let alone a goal just fourty seconds into the period isnt good. I thought Vernon looked slow, didnt seem to have alot of jump-energy for most of the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Vipers passes were off, pucks getting caught up in skates, the Vipers just didnt seem to get any bounces or puck luck in the final two periods. Vernon is now 11-1 when scoring the opening goal in the playoffs and fell short of winning ten straight. The Vipers just didnt look very sharp in the final two periods and had troubles with the strong forecheck of the Saints. The Vipers will now play their final home game of this season tomorrow night before finishing the remainder of the series in Spruce Grove.  Former Vipers captain, Lennie Rampone was in attendance tonight.

Game Thoughts: (Spruce Grove)

Spruce Grove come out hitting and had a few good opening shifts before the Vipers slowly took over the period. I thought the Saints looked good at times but couldnt seem to match the Vipers speed and skill as like in Game 1 were outshot and outchanced in the opening period tonight. Whatever was said between periods, well it worked as the Saints were a much different and better hockey club in the final two periods. Spruce Grove really controlled the play, battled and competed hard, won most of the battles and were standing up to the Vipers, getting in their faces after and inbetween whistles. Spruce Grove did a great job at forcing the Vipers, didnt allow Vernon to setup or create as many opportunities as in Game 1 and cleared the front of the net for Vincenzo Marozzi. The Saints worked very hard and come up with a huge 3-2 victory forcing a Game 3 here tomorrow night.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Max Mowat
Zach McPhee
Colton Sparrow

Spruce Grove:

Michael Claffey
Kristopher Dalton
Brendan McCalpin (AP)
David Dotan
Brian Sommers (AP)

3 Stars:

1st Star: Vincenzo Marozzi (37 saves)
2nd Star: Patrick McGillis (1 goal)
3rd Star: Scott Allen (1 goal)

For more on tonight's game check out the boxscore,

http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=2668&leagueID=6616&gameID=938999&link=DoyleCup

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