Vipers Drop Another To Chilliwack:

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Vipers drop another to Chilliwack

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-11-17

In Chilliwack Thursday night, The Chiefs scored twice in the third period to edge the Vipers, 4-3.

With the Hanson Brothers playing old time rock n’ roll in the corner of the Prospera Centre in, it was like old times between the Chiefs and the Vernon Vipers. Just like the rough tough Chiefs of old, they took the body in the first period, but the Vipers matched them hit for hit. Michael Spring led the hit parade for Chilliwack while Vernon’s Ryan Renz delivered several solid hits.

In that first period, the Vipers outplayed the Chiefs for most of the 20 minutes, but the Chiefs scored first, on their first shot. Trevor Hills beat his defender wide and passed to Josh Hansen in the slot. Unchecked, Hansen beat Kirby Halcrow just inside Halcrow’s left post.

Brett Corkey, fresh off his Gold Medal performance with Team Canada West, got the Vipers on the board with an end to end rush. Mitch Gillam made a fine save on Corkey and again on Corkey’s rebound shot, but Marcus Basara banked the puck off Gillam’s left pad with a shot from behind the end line at 16:59.

The teams traded goals again in a wide open second period that provided plenty of excitement for the 1700+ fans in attendance.

Malcolm Gould put the Chiefs ahead when he scored the first of his two power play goals at 4:27. He was alone at the side of the net when a rebound landed on his stick.

Darren Nowick tied the game at 15:44 on an odd man rush after Mike Zalewski stole the puck from Mike Berry at the Chilliwack blue line.

As in the first two periods, the Chiefs struck early in the third. At 0:37, a smooth three-way passing play by Chilliwack’s top line gave David Bondra an open shot in the high slot. His slap shot zipped just under the cross bar.

Gould added to the Chief lead with another tap-in power play marker at 11:32 and it looked like the Chiefs were home and dry.

However, the Vipers kept on coming and Mitch Gillam had to be at his best to keep the Vipers from scoring. They eventually did score on a determined effort by John Knisley, who poked in his own rebound at 16:59.

Viper Coach Jason Williamson thought his team “was the better team overall, but some missed defensive assignments cost us. We got a couple of greasy goals, but we have to do more of that. Against their big rugged D-corps, we have to be willing to go to the net and take some bumps in order to score against a good goalie like Gillam.”

The game stats back Williamson’s assessment. The Vipers led in shots (37-25), scoring chances (18-13), and hits (40-33), but came up short on the scoreboard for the third time in four meetings with Chilliwack this season.