Not much to be said about the Vipers game on Saturday Night. The effort level wasn't good. Those aren't my words, they are spoken by every member of the coaching staff and I'm sure even the players would agree with that. The final score would end at 3-0 Clippers.
No scoring in the first period and it was a goaltending duel going on between Danny Todosychuk and Jayson Argue as they made several big saves apiece. The Vipers powerplay had 3 chances but couldn't generate much in the way of offense.
The second was very close to a mirror image of the first. The only difference was the Clippers had 2 chances on the powerplay, but like the Vipers, couldn't score. Goaltending continued to be superb at both ends of the ice.
In the third, the sloppiness finally burned the Vipers as a missed pass went for an icing leaving a tired squad on the ice. The Clippers would make them pay as Bo Brauer took a shot from the high slot that made its way through traffic and into the back of the net. Nine seconds later, a terrible defensive breakdown allowed Eric Margo to sneak in the back door and put a shot past Todosychuck to give the Clips a two goal lead. Add in an empty netter and thats the final.
My 3 Key Thoughts
1) What happened? - Its really quite odd how the team can play so well one night, then so poor the next. Its a puzzle that the coaching staff now has to put together. Kris Mallette said in the post game show, the effort was embarrassing. Comments like that are meant to light a fire under the team and tomorrow afternoon, we'll see if it worked.
2) Quick Turnaround - The three game in three night island road swing is no doubt a tough one. The advantage is that the team can put it behind them with a solid effort Sunday afternoon against Alberni Valley.
3) Start a New Streak - The 5 game winning streak is now over. The Vipers are back in the hunt near the top of the Interior Division and that is a big positive. It goes without saying that you'd rather have more winning streaks than losing streaks, but nothing is stopping this team from putting another stretch like this together. Back to basics.
The final game of this island trip is tomorrow afternoon in Port Alberni. You can catch all the action starting at 1:45 with the pregame show and Village Green Hotel Vipers Hockey on 1075 KissFM starting at 2.
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