Smokies Get Revenge:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Smokies Get Revenge
 
Friday, November 9, 2012 - Submitted by Don Klepp

Stung by a 9-2 shellacking at home against the Vipers last Saturday, the Trail Smoke Eaters responded with smothering defence as they eked out a 2-1 overtime win in Vernon on Friday.

Jesse Knowler pounced on a Braden Pears rebound 28 seconds into the second overtime period. His goal concluded a defensive struggle that vindicated Trail coach Bill Birks’s strategy.

The Trail win continued a pattern that was established in September when the Smoke eaters rebounded with a 3-0 shutout after falling 7-2 to the Vipers.

Trail’s Lyndon Stanwood and Vernon’s Austin Smith were good in goal when they had to be, although the scoring chances were few and far between.

The game saver for the Smokies happened in the second period. Vernon’s Mike Roberts received a breakaway pass and tried to slip the puck between Stanwood’s legs, but Stanwood was equal to the test.

The Vipers led for most of the contest after TJ Dumonceaux scored a beauty at 2:17 of the first period. The speedster burst in on the right wing, beat a Trail defenceman wide, and then put a backhand over Stanwood while cutting across the Trail crease.

That 1-0 lead stood up until 4:07 of the third period. Brent Baltus broke in with linemates Garrett McMullen and Scott Davidson. McMullen’s attempted shot was blocked, but the puck came to the unmarked Baltus, who buried it from 10 feet.

Soon after, Adam Tambellini nearly put the Vipers ahead when he beat two defenders with a toe drag move and rang the puck off the crossbar. 

In the three-on-three overtime, Trail sent out two defenders and a forward, while the Vipers went with forwards Adam Tambellini and Pearce Eviston, along with D-man Brett Corkey. When a Tambellini shot was blocked by Shane Poulsen in the Trail end, the Smoke Eaters broke out two-on-one.

Austin Smith parried Braden Pears’s hard shot, but Knowler hustled to snap home the rebound.