I was at todays BCHL game after Vernon defeated Prince George 4-3 in front of 1,296 fans at the Wesbild Centre.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Prince George: Kirk Thompson
1st Period: Both teams would get an early chance off the opening faceoff, Luke Juha's point shot gave starting goaltender, Kirk Thompson a little trouble after just getting a peice of the puck with his glove, Kirby Halcrow at the other end just got a peice of Michael Colantone's shot from the circle before John Knisley's quick shot from the corner seemed to catch Thompson as the Spruce Kings goaltender just got a peice of the puck making wich looked like an awkward save. Vernon would get an early powerplay and capitalize after Darren Nowick beat Kirk Thompson at 4:46 giving the Vipers a 1-0 lead, Max Mowat and Mike Zalewski would collect the helpers. The Vipers who got in real early this morning after a 6-3 victory in Trail last night seemed to have some good jump and played very well in the opening period. Vernon would get their legs going and create some good chances in the PG zone for a few minutes. Former Salmon Arm Silverback, Paul De Jersey carried the puck in over the Vipers blueline and then dished off a nice pass to a wide open Michael Colantone who made a nice move putting the puck past Halcrow tying the game at 9:46, De Jersey and Jujhar Khaira with the assists. Shortly after Jedd Soleway who played with alot of energy leaned into a hard slapshot from the slot just going high and over the PG net. Marcus Basara and John Knisley on a odd man rush couldnt convert on the two on one. The Spruce Kings would then get their first powerplay of the afternoon, Jujhar Khaira with a quick shot from in close through traffic couldnt beat Kirby Halcrow who I dont think saw the shot until the last second made a huge pad save on the penalty kill as the Vipers killed off the minor. Halcrow had to be sharp over the next few minutes as Prince George come on a little creating and generating some good scoring opportunities. Halcrow was forced to make a good five or six real nice saves keeping this game tied. Halcrow made his biggest save of the 1st robbing Spencer McHaffie and Michael Klonarakis on a two on one, Halcrow streatched across the crease to make a huge blocker save off Klonarakis. PG would get a late man advantage but unable to capitalize as it was 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. A very good evenly matched 1st period with PG getting the better scoring chances. Vernon outshot Prince George 15-12.
2nd Period: Jujhar Khaira was stopped in the slot by Kirby Halcrow on a good early chance, as the Vipers moved the puck up setting a wide open Alex Hagen who waited for Colton Sparrow to catch up into the play, before dishing off to the Vernon product who hit the empty net on the two on one giving Vernon a 2-1 lead at 2:31, Hagen and Connor Hartley with the assists. The Vipers then seemed to go to sleep for a few shifts after getting caught running around in their own end, PG moving the puck well couldnt capitalize. The Spruce Kings started to play physical in the 2nd and were dishing out some good checks through out the middle frame. PG with an odd man rush couldnt convert after some good hustle by Jedd Soleway who rushed back into the play breaking up the three on two. Just before the midway mark the Vipers on the man advantage would jump ahead by two goals after Max Mowats point shot hit someone in front landing right on the tape of Marcus Basara who beat Kirk Thompson at 9:19, Mowat and Adam Tambellini picked up the assists. On the next play Jedd Soleway with a huge check behind the PG goal levelled his man into the boards drawing some attention as Kevin Leschuk come right over and dropped the gloves with Soleway wich would send PG on a powerplay. Ben Woodley come over to the Vipers penalty box and was exchanging words with the Viper rookie. The Spruce Kings who had some troubles with the man advantage finally got the puck moving setting up "AP" Josh Gray in the slot who beat Halcrow at 11:55 cutting the lead to a single goal. Ben Woodley and Chase Golightly with the helpers on the goal. Halcrow just got a peice of Gray's shot but couldnt make the glove save. The Vipers seemed to turn things around in the second half and really played well for most of the remainder of the period. The play really started to open up with Vernon carrying the better of the play. The Vipers would get a powerplay but a strong penalty kill by PG would kill off the minor. Again not alot of scoring opportunities this afternoon at both ends of the rink. Ben Woodley made a smart defensive play breaking up a Vipers odd man rush. Prince George would get things going in the final three and a half minutes, with a few solid shifts showing lots of energy cycled the puck well down low but again couldnt get any pucks close to the net as the Vipers would excape the period taking a 3-2 lead into the 3rd. Vernon was the better team in the 2nd scoring twice. The Vipers outshot the Spruce Kings 10-9.
3rd Period: The Fitzgeralds showed some good hustle off the opening faceoff, getting the puck in deep setting up Leo Fitzgerald in close but ripped his shot high and over the Vipers goal. Prince George would get an early powerplay just fifty eight seconds into the 3rd but the Vipers penalty kill was good killing off the minor. Trevor Esau with a point shot was stopped by Halcrow who made a tough save through traffic. Esau's second point shot then beat Halcrow but rang off the post as PG come very close to tying the hockey game. Back come the Vipers on a two on one, Aaron Hadley and Darren Nowick couldnt convert on the odd man rush after Trevor Esau made a nice defensive play not allowing the Vipers to get a shot off. Both teams played very well defensively this afternoon. Marcus Basara with a great chance to give Vernon a two goal lead beat Thompson but hit the post. In the second half Vernon just playing the safe dump and chase game was trying to eat as much time off the clock as possible. Prince George started to come on as the period went on but the Vipers did a great job defensively keeping the Spruce Kings to the outside as PG with some good pressure late couldnt generate any real good scoring opportunities. The Spruce Kings rolling just three lines in the second half of the period had some good pressure. The Vipers after a long bus ride home last night started to look a little tired late in the period, keeping things simple Vernon waited for PG to make a mistake as the Vipers caught the Spruce Kings sending in Mike Zalewski and Darren Nowick in for the two on one, Zalewski setup Nowick who made a nice move and then went upstairs on Thompson giving Vernon a 4-2 lead at 17:54, Zalewski and Ryan Renz with the assists. The Spruce Kings would get Kirk Thompson to the bench for the extra man with just over fourty seconds remaining, but the Vipers defence shutdown PG's offence for most of the final two minutes before the Spruce Kings got some traffic in front of Kirby Halcrow, Michael Colantone found and setup Jujhar Khaira at the side of the net who hit the empty cage making this a one goal game at 19:32, Colantone with the lone assist. The Vipers defence then played shutdown hockey for the remaining few seconds keeping the Spruce Kings trapped in the neutral zone ending todays game. The Vipers would defeat the Spruce Kings 4-3.
Top Players: (Vernon)
Darren Nowick (2 goals) Played well up front for the Vipers. Nowick with back to back two goal games.
Colton Sparrow (1 goal) I thought showed and played with alot of jump-energy.
Jedd Soleway Impressed me this afternoon, played very well for the first period and a half. Showed alot of hustle, played with some spark and seemed to get his line going.
Kirby Halcrow (30 saves) Kirby Halcrow who gave up 16 goals in his last three games really played well this afternoon. When the Vipers needed a big save Halcrow was their to keep his team in the game. Halcrow looked very good in the opening period when he made atleast five or six real big saves after some good pressure by the Spruce Kings.
Game Thoughts: (Vernon)
The Vipers improve to 9-3 and stay within three points of first place Penticton after a 6-3 Vees victory today over the visiting Surrey Eagles. After a long and late bus ride home from Trail last night, I thought the Vipers played very well for getting home early this morning and then having to play at 4pm this afternoon. You could see late in the game Vernon was starting to get tired but hung in there and pulled out the 4-3 win. A pretty good-physical game with not alot of scoring chances at either ends of the rink. Both teams played well defensively, as did both goaltenders. The puck seemed to be on edge or bouncing alot through out todays game. I thought the Vipers passing wasnt the greatest in the first two periods but was much better in the 3rd. This was a tough weekend, playing three games in three days, especially with the long bus ride to Trail last night. After dropping three straight Vernon has now won back to back games before a re-match with PG next weekend. Kevin Crowell the younger brother of former Vipers captain Chris Crowell was one of the linesmen in todays game.
Top Players: (Prince George)
Skylar Pacheco played very well defensively. Made a nice defensive play in the 3rd to breakup a Vipers two one on
Trevor Esau also played and looked very strong on the Spruce Kings blueline. Come very close to tying the game in the 3rd after hitting the post.
The line of Paul De Jersey (1 assist), Michael Colantone (1 goal & 1 assist) & Jujhar Khaira (1 goal & 1 assist) was PG's best line today. De Jersey didnt stand out as his first game in Vernon back in early October but both Khaira and Colantone were very dangerous with the puck. Both players were all over the ice getting some good scoring chances.
Game Thoughts: (Prince George)
After last night's 6-2 loss in Westside snapping the Spruce Kings five game winning streak, you knew PG would come into Vernon looking to get back on the winning track, and after an earlier 4-1 3rd period collapse falling 5-4 in overtime to the Vipers you knew PG was looking for some revenge. I thought PG just like Vernon played very well today, especially with six regulars out of the lineup. PG had some good chances especially in the opening period but couldnt beat Kirby Halcrow. Specialty teams was the difference, the Vipers went 2-3 while the Spruce Kings went 1-5. PG who has one of the bigger clubs in the league really played physical vs the Vernon today. A fairly even game as either team had a chance to win. The Spruce Kings (5-4-0-1) struggles on the road continue with just a single victory away from home, missed a great opportunity to get back into 2nd place.
Scratches:
Vernon:
Riley Hunt
Patrick McGillis (Injured)
Prince George:
Jared Crossan
Cody Bardock
Connor Tiechko
Dylan Tappe
Jeff Earnest
Sean Landrey
Mitchell Smith
Vipers energy player of the game: Marcus Basara
3 Stars:
1st Star: Darren Nowick (2 goals)
2nd Star: Jujhar Khaira (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Max Mowat (1 assist)
For more on today's game check out the boxscore,
http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=977630&link=bchl
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