Vipers Take Baby Step With Win Over Trail:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers take baby step with win over Trail

John K. White

Morning Star

Saturday's B.C. Hockey League game started with a bang. Well, two bangs.

Vernon Vipers forward Jesse Lansdell was aggressive on his forecheck on the first shift, and his first hit sent a Trail Smoke Eaters defender into the boards, hard.

Lansdell noticed he was getting a penalty for that hit, and decided to add another and drove a second defender into the boards with a crosscheck, possibly thinking he surely wouldn't get two penalties on the play. He did. He also had to serve a 10-minute misconduct.

Despite all of that fury, the Smoke Eaters were unable to score in the four-minute man advantage to start the game thanks mostly to the work of goaltender Aidan Porter.

Luckily for Lansdell, redemption would come at 3:35 of the third period as he was able to score on a wrister from the slot to net the game-winner for Vernon in a 1-0 shutout of the visiting Smoke Eaters.

"I'm not going to comment on the hit or the penalty, but until we see the video, I just thought Jesse caught him off guard and didn't know he was going come, and then he pushed the kid, and he takes a double minor," Vernon Vipers head coach Mark Ferner said after the game. "But, we were behind the eightball early, they've got a good power play, they've got some talent over there, they find those seams. But goalie Aidan Porter, again, has to be your best penalty killer."

Much like Friday night's game, an end-of-the-period scrum resulted in a mittful of penalties to both teams, this time in the first. Vernon came away with a man advantage but they were unable to convert despite having better success setting up their system down low.

It looked like Trail tied things up with a spin-around shot to the top corner in the third, but the goal was waved off by the referee and they remained a goal behind heading into the final seven minutes of the third.

"I think we got a little break. I mean obviously we haven't seen the video yet, but you know tough call for the ref, but much needed break possibly for our group, "Ferner said.

Porter was able to preserve the shutout for Vernon with 23 saves. Marcoux also had 23 saves in a losing cause.

Friday was a tight-checking game with limited quality scoring chances, and it came down to a few clutch plays to swing the result.

For the Vipers facing the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks in front of 2,637 fans at Kal Tire Place, it came down to a pair of incredible saves from Salmon Arm's Matthew Armitage and two laser-like second-period snipes from Nick Unrah and Tyson Gayfer in a 2-0 Silverbacks shutout.

Armitage stopped two parcial break-aways in the second period that could have been the difference, in the score and momentum. Instead, Armitage's heroics deflated any hope Vernon had to gain back an energy advantage. In all, Armitage stopped 31 shots, Porter stopped 24 of 26 and really had no chance on either Salmon Arm goal.

Neither side could capitalize on five power plays each, and Vernon had trouble setting up in the offensive zone. Vernon managed to kill off a two-man advantage to start the third period, after a minor line brawl at the end of the second.

Unrah added an assist to his goal for Salmon Arm, while Noah Wakeford had two assists.

A pre-game ceremony involved a tribute to first responders, tying into the recognition of their work every day, as well as the effort made by responders in last season's horrific bus crash that killed 16 people in the Humboldt Broncos organization. The Vipers wore special Broncos jerseys for the game, and the teams gathered side by side during the anthem to stand united in honouring the Broncos and the first responders in their midst.

The Vipers next face the Merritt Centennials at home Friday. The win moved the Vipers out of last place with 29 points, one ahead of Trail.

We"re taking baby steps, but at the same time we"ll take the victory for sure, but we know that we"ve got some work to do," Ferner said.

SNAKEBITES: Two Vipers were selected to the 2018 World Jr. A Canada West Camp Roster by Hockey Canada Monday. Defenceman Jack Judson and forward Alex Swetlikoff will join 42 other selections for Team Canada West.