Special Teams Power Vipers Past Millionaires:

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Special teams power Vipers past Millionaires

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-09-26

Power play goals lifted the Vernon Vipers to a 5-2 win in Quesnel Saturday night.

The Vipers came into the game 3 for 27 on the power play and they had allowed 8 opposition power play markers in 20 chances. However, they struck four times in nine power plays while holding the Mills 0 for 8. The stats were somewhat skewed, however, as referee Justin Neufeld had a tendency to issue penalties to the team with the man advantage.

Many of Neufeld’s early calls were for marginal infractions, but he neglected to penalize players for aggressive actions after he had blown plays dead. As a consequence, the game became chippy in the third period.

At the end of the game, Devin Balness took a swipe at Viper goalie BlakeVoth. Elliott Richardson took exception and engaged Balness. The Mills’ Sterling Bear then jumped Richardson from behind, and a melee ensued.

The stream of penalties mitigated against flowing hockey, which was intensified by both teams checking hard in the confines of the small ice surface.

For the third time in seven games, the Vipers restricted the shots against to 15 or less, outshooting the Millionaires 35-15.

Mike Zalewski opened the scoring at 11:46 of the first period. After accepting a pass at the side of the Quesnel net, he stickhandled while out waiting goalie Kirby Halcrow. When Halcrow made a move, Zalewski calmly deposited the puck on the short side.

Hard work by Colton Sparrow and Todd Skirving led to the Vipers’ second goal. From the high slot, Trevor Fitzgerald ripped a one-time slap shot over Halcrow’s blocker.

Two more power play markers pushed the Viper lead to 4-0. Both were shots from just inside the blue line to the top corner. Bryce Kakoske got his second of the season at 7:16 of the second period and Steve Weinstein matched Kakoske at 0:41 of the third.

Later in the third period, Justin Hogan briefly gave the Millionaires some hope when he poked the puck from under Blake Voth’s glove at 1:51. Referee Neufeld blew the whistle prior to Hogan’s poke and then, surprisingly, awarded a goal, saying that he had blown the whistle too quickly.

The Vipers were understandably baffled by the decision. Coach Mark Ferner said after the game, “if anything, Hogan should have been given a penalty.”

Going hard to the net, Kyle Murphy restored the four goal lead with a power play deflection of Brett Corkey’s slap pass at 12:46.

The final goal of the evening resulted from a determined effort by Quesnel’s Derek Huisman. With two Vipers checking him closely, he managed to get off a rising shot that went over Blake Voth’s right shoulder.

In the closing minutes, the Millionaires expressed their frustration with chippy play. Goalie Halcrow drew two roughing penalties but was not penalized for swinging his stick at David Robinson, who was cut for six stitches on the left side of his mouth.

After the game, Mark Ferner was pleased with his team’s effort: “We still have to work on some things, but the players are working hard and doing a good job of tending to the details. We knew that we’d have to go through a process to pull all these guys together. But we like our players, and we’re moving in the right direction. We deserved to win last night in PG, too.”

A good indication of the team’s positive direction is that that have outshot the opposition 80 to 28 in the past two games.

Game Notes:

• Vernon’s Kyle Murphy notched his first BCHL goal.

• Todd Skirving (two assists) and Colton Sparrow (one assist) recorded their first BCHL points.

• Daryl DeVries, who assisted on Huisman’s goal, also gained his first BCHL point.

• On Sunday afternoon, the Mills will host the Penticton Vees, while the Vipers will travel back to Prince George for a 3 pm tilt.