Tegeler Sparks Vipers:

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Tegeler Sparks Vipers
 
Saturday, January 19, 2013 - Submitted by Don Klepp

Andrew Tegeler’s second period hat trick highlighted a 6-4 Viper win in Nanaimo on Friday.

Playing on a line with Mason Blacklock and Dexter Dancs, Tegeler showcased his speed on his first goal at 6:18 as he picked Colton Dahlen’s pocket at centre ice and left the Clippers in his wake. At the Clipper net, he faked left and lifted the puck over Jason Argue’s left shoulder.

That goal put the Vipers ahead 2-1 after Matthew Grant’s power play marker had tied the score at 1-1 at 1:47. The Vipers had opened their account at 9:04 of the first period on Bryce Eviston’s first of the season, on the power play.

During a scramble in front of Danny Todosychuk, Garrett Brandsma once again tied the score for Nanaimo, this time at 7:23.

Then, Mason Blacklock and Andrew Tegeler took over. At 10:54 and again at 17:31, Blacklock set up Tegeler just outside the Clipper crease. The second score came during a Viper five-on-three power play, to increase the Viper lead.

However, the Clippers would not go away and they twice cut into the Viper two-goal lead with Reid Sturos power play goals. The first came just 10 seconds into the third period when Kyle Kramer zipped down the wing and fed Sturos for a tip-in. The second was set up by Trevor Fitzgerald’s nifty stick handling.

In between the Sturos goals, Blacklock notched his fourth point of the night when he tracked a Michael Statchuk shot off the back boards and flipped it over Jason Argue.

Logan Mick completed the scoring when his 40-foot slap shot beat Derek Dun to the low glove side. Dun had replaced Argue after Blacklock’s goal.

Coach Williamson was proud of his team’s effort: “We faced some adversity tonight, when we lost Marc Hetnik and Ryan Renz for most of the first period and when the Clippers scored early in the third. But there was no panic tonight. We kept plugging away.”

In practice this week, the Vipers worked on play around the net and on closing the gap between the forwards and defencemen, especially if they lost the puck in the offensive zone. The work paid off. Even though the Vipers surrendered four goals, three were Clipper power play markers.

The shot totals, which favoured the Clippers 44-24, were misleading as the Vipers had one more scoring chance (17-16) than the Clippers. The Viper scoring rate of 25 percent was much higher than their season average of just under 8 percent.