Vipers Back On Playoff Bubble After Loss In Merritt:

This was in yesterdays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers back on playoff bubble after loss in Merritt

Published: February 17, 2012

All the equipment and players made it on the bus to Merritt Tuesday night, but it appears the Vernon Vipers forgot their sense of urgency at home.

The Snakes allowed four unanswered goals en route to a lacklustre 7-1 loss to the host Centennials, who were relieved to snap a six-game B.C. Hockey League losing streak in front of 550 fans at Nicola Valley Arena.

For a team that should be bloodthirsty for wins – the 25-22-1-2 Vipers are chasing the 26-20-1-2 Chilliwack Chiefs for the final Interior Conference berth – Vernon head coach Jason Williamson said his team looked almost fragile against the second-place Cents (27-17-2-5).

“It was there in spurts, but then we had some brain cramps and lost coverage in our own end,” said the rookie bench boss. “There were times where we took over the game, and there were times where, whatever they got, we kind of just gave it to them.

“They stretched the zone and our dee have got to go with them. You can’t just leave them alone.”

The Vipers looked to regroup as they entertained the Nanaimo Clippers (22-18-0-9) Thursday night at Wesbild Centre. They are on the road tonight against the league-leading Penticton Vees (44-3-0-2) tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Rylan Ferster’s 18-26-2-5 Westside Warriors visit Wesbild Centre Saturday night.

Healthy for the first time in months, the Vipers know they have no excuses to fall back on if they can’t string together some wins, especially on the road, where they haven’t won a game in regulation since Nov. 4 (4-2 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters). They have three OT road wins over Trail, Salmon Arm and Prince George since then.

“We know we can do it, as we did a little bit here to climb back in the race, but that’s not good enough,” said Williamson. “We’ve got to bottle up whatever it is we do at home and do it on the road. We tried to change certain aspects of our game for the road, just to simplify things.”

Tuesday night, Merritt’s Brandon Bruce and Regan Soquila, named first and second star respectively, paced the Cents with two goals and an assist each. Chad Brears added a goal and two helpers, singles coming from Carter Shinkaruk and Brent Fletcher.

“A lot of the goals they scored early were like football scrums, which we said we had to be like, with guys going to the net,” said Williamson. “They did a good job of that and we didn’t pick up bodies and they were more determined in those tough areas.”

Going into Tuesday’s tilt, the Cents had scored only five goals in their last six games. Asked the reason for their turnaround, Brears told Black Press: “I think that everybody was really focused. Also, we got back to relaxing almost, and keeping a positive attitude on the ice and in the room.”

Vernon’s goal came on a dump-in, with Mike Zalewski winning a race to the puck and feeding John Knisley a back-door pass for his eighth of the season.

Williamson credited Cents’ netminder Lino Chimienti for his third star, 34-save performance, but said the Vipers needed to test him more on rebounds.

Kirby Halcrow, who was pulled in the third period, didn’t get a lot of help in making 24 saves for the Vipers, said Williamson. Backup tender Danny Todosychuk stopped five shots in nearly eight minutes of relief work.

SNAKE BITES: Vernon d-man Sean Robertson scrapped Merritt’s Brendan Lamont late in the third period after Lamont hit the Vipers’ Ryan Renz from behind...The Vees are undefeated in regulation at home this season, going 23-0-0-1 at South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vipers are the last team to stop Penticton in regulation, hammering them 7-1 on Nov. 2. The Trail Smoke Eaters and Chiefs are the only other teams to record regulation wins against the Vees...The Vipers’ powerplay is third in the league at 22.80 per cent...Nanaimo fell 6-3 to the Coquitlam Express Wednesday night at the Poirier Sports & Leisure Centre. In the other Wednesday nighter, former Salmon Arm SilverBack Devin Gannon collected the OT winner as the Cowichan Valley Capitals grounded the host Alberni Valley Bulldogs 5-4 at Weyerhaeuser Arena.