Vipers Regain Scoring Touch:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers regain scoring touch

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-10-23

Led by Darren Nowick who scored a third period winner and an empty netter on his 20th birthday, the Vipers doubled the home town Trail Smoke Eaters 6-3.

Adam Tambellini also scored twice and Colton Sparrow had a goal and two sparkplug assists as the Vipers surpassed their scoring total for the past three games combined. In the process, they fought back to tie the game three times.

Coach Jason Williamson was pleased by the outburst because “The guys worked hard for the full 60 minutes tonight.” He was even more pleased with his team’s five-man defensive effort: “They held Trail to 22 shots, which was one of our main goals for the game. If we play like that, we’ll win more than our share of games.”

Trail also played hard and kept taking the lead, starting with a power play goal at 4:54 of the first period. While crossing in front of the Viper net, Adam Boytinck got his stick on a Tim Coish point shot to deflect it over Danny Todosychuk’s shoulder.

The Vipers equalized when Peter McMullen calmly found Alex Hagen cruising through the slot. Hagen didn’t get everything on his shot but it sailed over Reed Vogt’s right shoulder at 7:15.

Clayton Chessa put the Smokies ahead at 19:24. He dumped Ryan Renz to give himself some space and one-timed Adam Boytinck’s corner feed. The referee counted the goal despite the Vipers’ protests.

Early in the second period, Colton Sparrow brought the Vipers back with an alert conversion of a rebound from an Alex Hagen shot. However, Luke Bertolucci put Trail ahead again at 5:35. He came out of the corner and lifted a sudden backhand over Todosychuk.

Four minutes later, Colton Sparrow made another play to equalize. Coming over the blue line on the left wing, he squeezed by a defender and then passed to Adam Tambellini who had read the play and found space in the slot. His low one-timer gave Vogt no chance.

Both teams played committed defence in the third period, but gradually the Vipers wore down their hosts and put the game away with two late goals. The winning goal came courtesy of another fine Colton Sparrow effort. He followed Alex Hagen’s shot behind the net and outmuscled a defender. Parked in front of Vogt, Darren Nowick swept in Sparrow’s feed at 16:39.

At 17:25, Adam Tambellini scored on a gorgeous backhand that was reminiscent of his famous grandfather, Addie Tambellini, who starred for the Senior Smoke Eaters two generations ago.

Adam says “It was fun to score in my first league game in Trail, especially with lots of family and friends in the crowd.” (Adam has spent most summers at the family cabin at nearby Christina Lake.)

The other notable event in the closing period was a short bout between Trail’s JJ Beitel and Turner Lawson, who one-punched Beitel before the two went to the ice.