Controversial Goal Sinks Snakes:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Controversial goal sinks Snakes

The Penticton Vees might not have the same cocky swagger as the veteran-laden roster than claimed the Fred Page Cup last April, but they showed Friday night at Wesbild Centre they're not about to roll over for the Vernon Vipers.
The Vees survived a late Vipers' rally, capitalizing on Garrett Milan's controversial overtime winner to ice the Snakes 4-3 in Game 1 of their best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League Interior Conference semifinal. Game 2 went Saturday night at Wesbild.
The Vipers capped the comeback, raising cheers from the 1,869 fans, on Kory Roy's wrister from the slot on a broken play at 13:59 of the third period.
However, Milan stunned the energetic crowd when he deflected a shot from the sidewall with what appeared to be a high stick, beating netminder Andrew Hammond at 9:15. After a lengthy deliberation with linesmen James Carr and Peter Buxton-Carr, referee Jim Maniago allowed the goal to stand.
“It was great work. All our players were playing good and I was just kind of lucky to tip it in,” said Milan, a Whistler product. “As a small player I’ve got to play with speed like that, working hard down low and getting pucks deep.”
Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner was disappointed with the call.
“It was certainly a high stick, and we’re going to have to take a look at the video,” said Ferner. “Jim said that he didn’t see it, and one of the two linesmen made that call. I’m not sure how or why they can make that call, but they actually said it went off the bar and in.
“It changed directions well before it got to the net.”
Ferner acknowledged his team wasn’t executing properly in overtime.
“We turned the puck over just inside their line when we should have got it deep, and they turn around and transition and the puck is in the back of our net.”
There was dispute over Milan’s opening goal at 2:10 of the first period as well. With the Vees on a two-man advantage, Hammond dove on a loose puck after a scramble in front. He appeared to have the puck covered, but with no whistle from Maniago, the Vees kept chipping away until Milan worked it free and buried it.
After the goal, Vipers’ defencemen Kyle Bigos and Cameron Brodie went after Vees’ forwards Brodie Reid and Curtis McKenzie for interfering with Hammond.
Vernon took earned seven extra penalty minutes for the scuffle and went back to being two men short. Some timely saves from Hammond, who looked rock steady in recording 30 saves, and the Vipers’ ability to clog shooting lanes prevented the Vees from padding their lead.
“That’s certainly not the start that we were looking for,” said Ferner. “We had guys emotionally a little bit too high, and got ourselves into penalty trouble.
“Certainly we wanted to initiate, but not to that extent where we’re putting ourselves behind the eight-ball. We ended up killing most of that first period, and it just takes away from what we’re trying to do.”
Vees’ head coach Fred Harbinson, who is all too happy to accept the underdog role in this series, didn’t seem overly concerned about not scoring more goals on the lengthy powerplay.
“They do a great job of killing penalties, and their goaltender, Hammond, was outstanding. There’s not much you can do about that.
“We’re a young team and we’re trying to compete and that’s all I can ask out of our guys. We’re going up against the best team in the league, in their building... and obviously we’re happy to get the win.
“(Last year), we had healthy scratches that were (NCAA) Division 1 players in the end, and they’ve (Vernon) got kind of the same situation here. They’re built a lot similar to what we were last year.”
Vipers’ rookie Sahir Gill looked sharp in his BCHL playoff debut, deftly tipping d-man Adam Thompson’s powerplay point shot at 16:54 of the first period for the first of his two goals.
His second, also on the powerplay, came midway through the third frame, giving the Vipers a much-needed spark.
The Vees had built a two-goal lead on second-period tallies by Curtis McKenzie, on a great solo effort to split the Vipers’ defence, and Ryan Johansen, who beat Hammond in close.
At the other end, rookie netminder Sean Bonar turned aside 44 shots. His best save came with 15 seconds remaining in the second, when he stoned Braden Pimm on a rebound at the side of the net with a flash of his right pad.
Earlier, the Vipers’ Ryan Santana was hooked while going in on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Bonar read him all the way, shutting the door on his five-hole attempt.
“I just decided he needed to get in there,” said Harbinson, of his decision to start Bonar ahead of veteran keeper Jordan White.
“We have two very capable goaltenders. Bonar was outstanding tonight, with a big save on the penalty shot, and couldn’t be faulted on any of the goals.”
The Vipers’ Connor Jones, who plays a lot bigger than his 5-foot-9, 165-pound frame would seem capable, drew an assist on Gill’s first goal. He also threw one of the bigger hits of the night when he caught Johansen with an open-ice hit that sent both players (and Jones’ mouth guard) flying.
“Guys are raring to go and they’re all hyped up, but we’ve got to control ourselves a little better and have some relaxed intensity and know when to use it,” said Jones.
“A lot of guys haven’t played in the playoffs before... and it’s good to get that first game out of the way. We battled hard... it was just an unlucky bounce.”
Games 3 and 4 go Tuesday and Wednesday night respectively at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton.
“Their team is working hard and so are we, so it’s going to be a good series,” grinned Milan.