Vernon 3 Trail 1

I was at tonight's BCHL game as Vernon defeated Trail 3-1 in front of 1,550 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Trail: Lyndon Stanwood

1st Period: Some fairly even play to start tonight's game as both teams carried the play back and forth in the opening few minutes with no scoring chances before Mike Zalewski with a shot from the slot was stopped by Lyndon Stanwood. On the next play Erik Cooper walked into the slot with traffic going hard towards the goal was stopped by Kirby Halcrow. Two real good scoring opportunities at both ends of the rink early. About two minutes later Turner Lawson who made his return to the Vipers lineup after being injured with a good chance in front was stopped by Lyndon Stanwood, Lawson stayed with the play, battled hard down low got back in front of the net beat Stanwood from the top of the crease at 5:49 giving Vernon a 1-0 lead. Geoff Crisfield with the only assist on the goal. This goal seemed to give the Vipers a little life and momentum as Vernon slowly started to take over the edge in play and come up with some real good scoring chances. Brendan Persley was stopped from the slot, Mike Zalewski with a hard low shot from the top of the circle was stopped by Lyndon Stanwood who made a big pad save and then on the same shift had to come up with another huge pad save off Adam Tambellini from the other side. Stanwood with several big saves keeping the Smokies in the hockey game. The Vipers were giving Stanwood all kinds of trouble going hard to the net, getting bodies in front and getting lots of traffic in and around the Trail goal. Just before the midway mark the Vipers got sloppy in their own end with a few turnovers deep in their zone, Ryan Renz coughed up the puck to Riley McDougall who couldnt beat Halcrow who somehow made the tough save with a pile of players at the top of the Vipers crease. Trail capitalized on Vernon's mistakes and come back with two or three hard working shifts deep in the Vipers zone but only able to generate the one real good scoring chance. Just past the halfway mark Vernon captain, Patrick McGillis with a hard shot from the top of the circle couldnt beat Stanwood who made a big blocker save. Brett Corkey with some good hustle kept the puck in at the Trail blueline ripping a hard shot from the point that was deflected in front by Mike Zalewski but Lyndon Stanwood just got a peice of the it to keep the puck out. Vernon would grab a two goal lead after Adam Tambellni made a nice crease pass setting up a wide open Aaron Hadley who was at the side of the Smoke Eaters net just had to tap the puck into the open cage giving the Vipers a 2-0 lead at 13:28 Tambellini and Mike Zalewski with the helpers. Just shortly after Colton Sparrow on a two on one tried putting Vernon ahead by three but Marley Keca made a huge diving defensive play to break up Sparrow's pass after trying to go across to Riley Hunt on the Vipers odd man rush. Trail would come back with a hard working shift. Late in the 1st Patrick McGillis fed Ben Gamache on a two on one, Gamache got in close getting inbehind the Smoke Eaters defence put a nice move on Stanwood who come up with a huge save keeping this a two goal game. Just before the last minute Connor Tiechko looked to have no room to go as Brett Corkey did a great job defensively keeping the former Prince George Spruce King along the boards before Tiechko got off a high shot from the corner wich beat Halcrow but went off the post or crossbar as the Smokies come very close to making this a one goal game. Vernon was up 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. Trail with a few good shifts didnt generate alot of offence as the Vipers carried the better of the play coming up with lots of good scoring opportunities. Lyndon Stanwood made some big saves keeping the Smoke Eaters in the contest. The Vipers outshot the Smokies 14-11.

2nd Period: The Smoke Eaters come out with lots of jump putting alot of pressure on the Vipers early with a good forecheck. Trail was really attacking the Vipers breakout wich was forcing Vernon into several turnovers. The Vipers couldnt seem to get much going early having some troubles with the Smoke Eaters forecheck. Trail would get an early powerplay and off the draw Adam Fares all alone in front beat Kirby Halcrow going high but rang the crossbar on a very close call. The Smokies would get a two man advantage, moving the puck around Vernon's penalty killers did a great job at keeping Trail to the outside giving up no shooting lanes before Erik Cooper found Clayton McEwan who wired his low shot past Halcrow at 8:06 cutting the lead to within a goal. The Vipers come back with a strong penalty kill and would kill off the remainder of the second man advantage. Just past the midway mark Brent Baltus all alone in front ripped a high shot that caught Kirby Halcrow up high in the neck-mask area, Halcrow was ok making the tough save as Trail was close to tying the hockey game. Just shortly after the Vipers would get their first powerplay of the night, Brett Corkey's hard shot from the point was stopped by Lyndon Stanwood who made a quick glove save. The Vipers moved the puck around but unable to really get any good qualitly shots through as the Smoke Eaters would kill off the minor. Just shortly after Luke Bertolucci and Brent Baltus on a two on one, Bertolucci kept and shot but missed going high over the net. Tempers heated up a little after a little scrum in and around the Smokies crease with both teams pushing and shoving. The Vipers would get two real good chances to jump ahead by two after Brandon Persley and Jedd Soleway were both left all alone in front, Persley's shot missed the entire net before Soleway collected the rebound and got off a shot from the side of the Trail goal but hit the far post on a close call. Ben Gamache late had a real good chance in close couldnt beat Stanwood. In the final few minutes Adam Tambellini with a nice move in close missed the goal on a backhand from in close before a mad scramble in front the Vipers couldnt jam the puck past or through Lyndon Stanwood who made two nice saves with traffic in front. Vernon was up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. The Smokies got off to a good start and come up with some good scoring chances, played a little more physical, really forechecked Vernon hard all period and worked hard carrying the better of the play. Trail was the better team in the middle frame. The Vipers outshot the Smoke Eaters 12-9.

3rd Period: Off the opening faceoff Erik Cooper with a great chance on the first play of the 3rd couldnt beat Kirby Halcrow who made a big save early. Not alot of action in the final period as both teams didnt generate alot of offence in a very sloppy 3rd period. Both teams with poor passes and several turnovers made for a fairly dull period. John Knisley battled hard down low before throwing the puck out front, the puck got caught up between Lyndon Stanwood, with Brendan Persley going to the net hard, a Trail D-man pusked Persley and the puck into Stanwood as the puck, Persley and Stanwood all ended up in the back of the net giving Vernon a 3-1 lead at 5:12 Knisley and Colton Cyr collected the helpers on a goal where Stanwood wasnt too happy with his defenceman. Both teams then got a little chippy as Colton Sparrow and Marley Keca exchanged words before Sparrow gave a crosscheck to Keca trying to drop the mits with the former Vipers tryout. Sparrow then was exchanging words with the Trail bench. Brandon Egli took a pretty big check in front of the Smoke Eaters bench and was slow to get up, Egli looked to have injured his arm-shoulder as he headed to the bench. After several minutes getting looked at by the clubs trainer Egli went to the Smokies dressing room and didnt return. Jedd Soleway battled hard inbehind the Trail goal didnt have anyone open in front to feed it too. The play went back and forth at times with no real flow to the game as both teams didnt record alot of shots on goal. Adam Fares with a good chance in close couldnt beat Halcrow. With just under four minutes remaining the Smokies would get a late powerplay but a big Vernon penalty kill would kill off the penalty. The Smoke Eaters who had several opportunities to pull Stanwood for the extra attacker down by two goals didnt and would run out of time. With 1:01 remaining Vernon thought they had gone ahead by three after scoring on a strange play-funny bounce on a long shot from before the Smokies blueline but the goal was waived off as a Viper player was offside. In the end the Vipers would win their fourth straight with a 3-1 victory over Trail. The Vipers would win the season series 7-0. Vernon outshot Trail 8-5.

Top Players: (Vernon)

Adam Tambellini (1 assist) I thought had a strong game up front for the Vipers. Tambellini who has really come along since joining the Vipers #1 line has played his best hockey of the season latley and looked good up front tonight. Played with alot of jump, had lots of speed and come up with several good scoring chances. Made a real nice crease pass to Aaron hadley for Vernon's 2nd goal of the game.

Aaron Hadley (1 goal) I thought played fairly well up front for the Vipers. Hadley battled and competed for most of the night.

Ben Gamache had atleast three good scoring chances and made two real nice crisp tape to tape passes.
Colton Sparrow played with alot of jump and energy especially in the opening period working hard also battled and competed all night.

Brendan Persley (1 goal) Had atleast two or three scoring opportunities played well for the Vipers up front.

Geoff Crisfield (1 assist) Played a very steady-physical game on Vernons backend.

Turner Lawson (1 goal) Returned to the Vipers lineup tonight after being out with an injury saw action up front and played well. Battled and competed, was in and around the net at times working hard down low.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

Vernon played a very good 1st period, carried most of the play and come up with several good scoring chances got off to a two goal lead. In the 2nd I thought the Vipers had troubles adjusting to the Smokies forecheck and physical play, the Vipers didnt get as nearly as much pressure or scoring opportunities as they managed in the opening period. I thought the did pretty good on the penalty kill, giving up just the lone goal on the two man advantage. Wasnt much of a 3rd on either sides with some sloppy play and very little offensive chances. Tonight was a must win vs the leagues bottom feeder, with a loss to Penticton the Vipers are now tied with Chilliwack for the 4th and final playoff spot. Nice to see this team finally get on a bit of a roll with a four game winning streak. With a so so game tonight and one of the worst games Saturday night vs Alberni Valley the Vipers have to be ready this weekend with Merritt here Friday and the Vipers in Chilliwack Saturday, Vernon is going to have to tighten up and play much better hockey in both games if they want to compete and win vs two teams they are chasing.

Top Players: (Trail)

Clayton McEwan (1 goal) I thought was the Smoke Eaters best d-man tonight. Really showed and played with that veteran experience making very little if any mistakes playing a strong game on the Trail blueline.

Marley Keca who has played well vs Vernon this season played a fairly steady game on the blueline tonight.

Adam Fares played with lots of jump was going hard to the net most of the net, come up with atleast two good scoring chances for the Smokies.

Erik Cooper (1 assist) Also played well up front for the Smoke Eaters. Cooper with a few good scoring chances battled hard and was one of the more offensive Smokies tonight.

Lyndon Stanwood (31 saves) Played very well between the pipes for Trail. Made some big saves in the opening period keeping the Smokies in the contest early.

Game Thoughts: (Trail)

Trail didnt generate alot of offence in the 1st period having just a few good shifts but really turned around their game in the middle frame with a much better effort and performance. The Smoke Eaters really forechecked the Vipers hard all period, played physical and generate some good scoring chances. In the 3rd neither team looked very good making several mistakes. I was surprised Trail didnt pull the goaltender late with the man advantage or even in the final minute and a half with the puck deep in the Vipers zone.

Scratches:
Vernon:
Max Mowat (Injured)
Darren Nowick (Injured)
Luke Juha (Injured)

Trail:
Shane Poulsen
Adam Wheeldon

Vipers energy player of the game: Colton Sparrow

3 Stars:

1st Star: Turner Lawson (1 goal)
2nd Star: Brendan Persley (1 goal)
3rd Star: John Knisley (1 assist)

For more on tonight's game visit the boxscore,
http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=977739&link=bchl