Vernon 3 Trail 1

I was at tonights BCHL game as Vernon defeated Trail 3-1 in front of 1,805 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Blake Voth
Trail: Matt Larose

1st Period: Off the opening faceoff Trail would get an early powerplay and would waist anytime. Just seconds into the man advantage, some nice three way passing between Travis St. Denis, Sam Mellor & Jake Baker created a highlight of the night goal putting Trail up 1-0 on a goal from former Vernon Viper Travis St. Denis on just the Smoke Eaters first shot on goal just 31 seconds into the hockey game. Sam Mellor and Jake Baker with the assists. Off the faceoff Vernon would get their first powerplay just seconds after the Smokies man advantage. The Vipers with just a single shot on the powerplay struggled as Trail would kill off the minor. Other then the Smokies powerplay goal both teams got off to a bit of a slow start, with not much action in the first five or six minutes. The Vipers would then get the play in deep and finally get some good presure in the Smoke Eaters zone, creating some chances. John Knisley with a shot from the slot was stopped by Matt Larose. Vernon with two good strong shifts slowly started to carry the play. Vernon come out hitting and was the more physical of the two teams in the opening period. Vernon kept working hard and the hard work paid off. Captain David Robinson with a big check along the end wall, got the puck out of the corner and then drove hard towards the net, with a Smokies d-man trying to slow him down, Robinson slid the puck past Matt Larose at 8:20 tying the game 1-1. Bryce Kakoske with the lone helper. Just shortly after the Vipers goal, Dylan Walchuk tried setting up Patrick McGillis on a two on one, but McGillis was just out of reach as the Vipers had a nice scoring chance. Vernon was up 6-2 in shots at this point. Just over a minute later Vernon would get its second powerplay of the night and this time capitalise. The Vipers moved the puck around, before Mike Zalewski setup Max Mowat who wired his shot from the circle wich beat Larose at 10:40 giving Vernon the 2-1 lead. This was Mowats first career BCHL goal. Zalewski and Brett Corkey drew the assists. The Vipers with a much better powerplay. The Vipers really had Trail on their heels now as Vernon took over the edge in play. Not alot of great scoring chances as the play slowed down a little in the final few minutes of the period. Vernon was up 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. The Vipers outshot the Smoke Eaters 8-4.

2nd Period: The Vipers would get an early powerplay just over a minute into the period but again struggled on the man advantage as Trails penalty killers would kill off the powerplay. The Vipers with one of the better chances in the period came early as veteran Steve Weinsteins point shot got through but was stopped by the toe of Matt Larose who made a tough save to keep the Vipers off the board. A very dull period with very few scoring chances. Both teams played very well defensively all night, a very tight checking game so their wasnt a whole lot of action wich at times really slowed down the play. Several icing plays made for alot of whistles in the middle frame. Trail would get a powerplay, moving the puck well the Smokies were unable to really generate any real good scoring chances as the Vipers killed off the minor. Just as the penalty expired Dylan Walchuk and Patrick McGillis caught John Knisley coming out of the penalty box wich lead for a Vipers three on one play, Walchuk fed Knisley who somehow missed shooting high over the crossbar missing on a wide open goal on a great scoring chance for the Vipers. Knisley shook his head as he headed off for a change. Both teams were unable to really generate any real presure as both teams played very well defensively. Vernon with just two shots in the final ten minutes of the period were the only two shots in the final ten minutes of the period. The Smokies would get a late powerplay wich would carry over into the 3rd. Vernon was up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. The Vipers outshot the Smoke Eaters 8-7.

3rd Period: Trail start the 3rd off on a continued powerplay but were unable to hit the back of the net as the Vipers would kill off the minor. Just three minutes into the final period Matthew Laboucane with a great chance from the slot was stopped by Blake Voth. Voth seemed to have troubles with the puck tonight, letting out some big rebounds on alot of Trails shots that were from well outside the zone. Again a very dull period with very little action, as both teams couldnt seem to find the offence. The Vipers without a single shot in the first half of the 3rd couldnt seem to get anything towards the net. Matthew Laboucane with another chance for the Smokies couldnt beat Voth. Just past the halfway mark Steve Weinstein with a nice pass up ice setup John Knisley who fed Malcolm Lyles who beat Larose on a diving play gave Vernon a 3-1 lead at 12:16 as Lyles went crashing into the end boards. This was a highlight goal on a nice three way passing play. Knisley would collect the lone assist. This was the Vipers first shot on goal of the period. Just after the Vernon goal Travis St. Denis & Colton Sparrow exchanged wacks sending both off for slashing minors. Bryce Kakoske had words and exchanged a few shots with Eric Walker as tempers started to heat up a little. Later on Kakoske and Walker got tangled up inbehind the Trail net and both hit the ice, as both players were sent to the penalty box. Trail would get another powerplay late in the game but was unable to find the back of the net after moving the puck well, missed on a few good chances from in close as the Vipers would kill off the minor. Just after the penalty expired Sam Mellor was fed the puck on a two on one and instead of shooting, made a pass back wich ruined a nice two way passing play for the Smoke Eaters as Mellor had a wide open goal to shoot at. On the play Blake Voth dove across the crease and looked to have troubles getting up. On the next whistle Voth looked to have shaken up his arm-shoulder but seemed fine and would stay in the game. On the next play Sam Mellor was sent in all alone for the breakaway, putting a nice move on Voth but couldnt beat the Vernon goaltender after Voth made a nice save keeping this a two goal game. This was by far Voths biggest save of the night. Curtis Tonello with a point shot went off a Trail player in front and just missed the far corner as the Smokes come close to scoring. Trail would call a timeout with 1:38 remaining and then get Matt Larose to the bench for the extra man with 1:31 left. The Smoke Eaters were unable to get the puck deep in the Vipers zone wich made for a neutral zone faceoff wich sent Larose back into the Trail goal. On the next play Larose would head back to the bench for the extra attacker, but the Smokies couldnt seem to set anything up, back come David Robinson, the Vipers captain carried the play in over the Smokies line and just missed the far corner on the empty net. The Vipers played very well defensively in the final minute not giving Trail a sniff as Vernon would hang on for the 3-1 victory to split the home and home series. Trail outshot Vernon 10-2.

Top Players: (Vernon)

Malcolm Lyles (1 goal) I have been very impressed with the play of Lyles the past six or seven games, you can see the improvement this kid has done over that span. Lyles looks very confident carrying the puck, and jumping up into the play. Laid out a hige hit in the 3rd after the Trail player went for the check on Lyles. This kid is very strong and hard to knock off the puck, also has one heck of a shot.

Max Mowat (1 goal) I thought Mowat and veteran Adam Thompson both played very well together on the Vipers blueline. Mowat looked very solid and confident tonight, jumped up into the play.

Adam Thompson played a very strong defensive game. Thompson made a few real nice heads up plays. Broke up atleast two Trail rushes.

Kyle Murphy was by far the best Vernon player tonight. I was very impressed with Murphys hard work, battled all night, was once again very good on the draw and showed alot of hustle on every shift.

Colton Sparrow had a strong game as well. Sparrow didnt back down from the physical play, laying out several good hits. Played with alot of energy.

Top Players: (Trail)

Clayton McEwan & Eric Walker both played very strong defensive games for the Smokies. Both d-men were hard to beat in close, both made some real nice heads up plays through out tonights game.

Sam Mellor (1 assist) I thought Mellor played a good game up front for the Smoke Eaters. Mellor with two great chances in the 3rd couldnt find the back of the net.

Matthew Labouncane had a few good scoring opportunities, played very well for the Smokies.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

I thought the Vipers played well, especially defensively. With Trail opening the scoring just 31 seconds into the contest on the powerplay it didnt look good, but give Vernon credit they battled back scoring two quick goals just over two minutes apart. This was a very tight checking, defensive game with not many great scoring chances. Wich slowed down the game a little, wich made for not the most exciting hockey game. I thought the Vipers defence did a great job at keeping Trail to the outside, and not allowing some of their snipers in close. Nice to see the boys come back with the victory after last nights 3-2 loss. After going 0-2 vs Trail this hopefully will give the guys a little confidence against the Smokies, knowing they can now beat them. With the win Vernon sits tied for 3rd with Trail and just one point back of 2nd place Salmon Arm.

Game Thoughts: (Trail)

The Smokies got off to a quick start and looked to maybe walk away with another win. Trail didnt seem to generate a whole lot of offence but also give credit to the Vipers defence. I was also impressed with the Smoke Eaters defence, as they held the Vipers in tight and didnt really allow them to use their speed and skill much tonight. Their wasnt really alot of room out their, due to the tight checking game as well as strong defensive play coming from both teams. I was surprised to see Matt Larose get the start in goal, after Kiefer Smileys strong performance last night, in Trails 3-2 win over Vernon. Trail had a few real good chances late in the 3rd but couldnt burry them.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Elliott Richardson
Todd Skirving
Gus Correale

Trail:

Steve Oursov
Steve Koshey

3 Stars:

1st Star: Max Mowat (First career BCHL goal)
2nd Star: Malcolm Lyles (1 goal)
3rd Star: Travis St. Denis