Kings Force Game Seven:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Kings force game seven

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-04-11

In their best effort of the BCHL final series, the Powell River Kings beat the Vernon Vipers to force a game seven Monday night in Vernon.

Playoff scoring leader Mat Bodie (9 + 22) led the Kings with a goal and two assists. His short handed goal at 1:37 of the second period made the score 2-0 and reinforced the momentum created by Brenden Forbes’s goal just 11 seconds into the second. Bodie also assisted on Mitch Labreche’s goal three minutes later and on Chad Niddery’s empty net marker late in the game.

Off the opening faceoff, the Kings played with urgent energy, but they were stymied by Vernon goaltender Graeme Gordon, who robbed Matt Garbowsky, Brenden Forbes, and Ben Schmidt, all in the first five minutes.

The Vipers bounced back and the first period ended even in shots, scoring chances, and hits. However, they were buried by the Kings’ second period blitzkrieg, in which the Kings took control with four goals in the first 9:01 of the second period. The opening goal came when Mitch Labreche won the opening faceoff and joined Chad Niddery to battle for the puck after Reid Campbell’s shoot-in. The ensuing scramble freed the puck for Forbes to shoot through a maze of players from 10 feet.

Before a minute had transpired, Cody Rainaldi took a tripping penalty. However, the Kings didn’t allow the Vipers to set up their power play. After the play was bottled up at centre ice, Mat Bodie found a loose puck, moved into the Viper zone, and showed patience and poise as a crowd gathered in front of Graeme Gordon. He then snapped a shot over Gordon while fading to his left.

A Mitch Labreche goal at 4:18 and a Daniel Carr power play marker at 9:01 resulted from fortuitous bounces in the Viper crease area.

The Vipers more than held their own for the remainder of the period, but the damage had been done. Two Viper shots cleanly beat Josh Watson, but Curtis Gedig and Connor Jones each rang a shot off Watson’s right goal post.

In the final period, the Vipers scored twice to make the game interesting. At 12:32, a Jonathan Milhouse shot deflected off Bryce Kakoske’s stick and then off a King. Then, 44 seconds later Garrett Noonan came in off the point to fire a rebound past Watson.

It was too little, too late, for the Vipers who didn’t show the same hunger that had characterized their wins in the previous two games. This night, the Kings were not only hungry but desperate, and it showed on the scoreboard.

The showdown on Monday will be played at the Wesbild Centre in Vernon, starting at 7 pm. The winner will move on to face either the Spruce Grove Saints or the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the Doyle Cup.

Show your support, Vernon!