Tonights effort for the Vernon Vipers was much improved from the night before. But the turning point in the victory was a huge penalty kill and 3 goals in less than 1 minute. The win was not only big because it was against a division rival, but that it ended a tough 2 game losing streak and a goal-less streak of more than 5 periods.
The whole game had an odd feel to it. It started with a tough apparent lower body injury to Viper starter Austin Smith. He made a save while the team was short handed and was in some discomfort and taken from the game. Danny Todosychuk would take over looking to build on a solid performance in PG. The Viper powerplay which has struggled of late, continued to struggle in the first period and it actually resulted in a goal against as Taylor Maruya slipped a backhander through Todosychuk to give the Backs a lead.
The second period was more of the same as the Vipers were skating well and trying to keep the Salmon Arm snipers as far away from the Vernon end as possible. The Snakes would end up in penalty trouble themselves and Alex Gillies would put home his 12th of the season to extend the Salmon Arm lead. The first of 2 turning points came just past the midway portion of the period. TJ Dumonceaux would be ejected from the game for a check from behind. Shortly after Demico Hannoun would take a tripping penalty putting the Vipers down two men for a full two minutes. The PK has been rock solid for the Vipers all year long and they proved that as they killed off the two man advantage and the remainder of the major penalty to keep the game 2-0 after 40 minutes.
The Vipers luck would change 5 minutes into the third as Josh Bryan would score his first of the season. 13 seconds later Logan Mick would put home his first of the season as well to get the tied up. The momentum continued to shift as Michael McNicholas would find a loose puck and put it past Clark just 33 seconds after the Mick marker. Vernon scored 3 goals in 46 seconds to take the lead. In the blink of an eye the fortunes of the Vipers went from zero to max in a matter of seconds. Credit Salmon Arm however as they pushed the pace in the final 14 minutes and made the finish very tight. Thanks to a handful of blocked shots and timely saves by Todosychuk the Vernon Vipers would hold on for a thrilling 3-2 victory.
My 3 Key Thoughts
1) - Puck Luck - The hockey Gods can only hate you for so long before the luck begins to change. After countless of missed opportunities and frustration for the Vipes, three fortunate bounces ended up in the Salmon Arm net. A cross bar by Salmon Arm and some near misses were their undoing.
2) - Oustanding PK - Yes, Salmon Arm scored on the man advantage, but a full 5 minute major, plus two of those minutes were 5 on 3 and they only gave up 2 shots. Aside from the 3 goals, that was a huge turning point. The team then rallied around it and the two points are now in the bank.
3) - Unlikely Support - When a team is struggling to score goals, like Vernon was, its imperative to get scoring from other sources than your top line. Goals from Josh Bryan and Logan Mick were crucial. The top guys can't always lead the way, but the good teams have help from all lines and the Vipers received that help tonight.
This win will do wonders for the teams confidence, but it was also they way they won that could go a long way. A come from behind win, losing a goaltender and killing of the penalty were character building moments. I'm sure the coaching staff will use this as a building block moving forward.
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