Vipers solid in 4-1 win over Chiefs

For the second straight game, the Vernon Vipers put together as close to a sixty minute game as the coaching staff could want.  They generated chances offensively, didn't give up much defensively, and got solid goaltending from Danny Todosychuk.

It was a quick start for the Snakes as Demico Hannoun would pot home his 4th goal of the season off a rebound from Lyndon Stanwood.  The Vipers main objective seemed to be simple in the opening frame and that was to force the Chiefs into making defensive zone turnovers.  They were standing the Chiefs up and the Chilliwack blue line as well as the centre line and seemed to be accomplishing their goals.  That objective however backfired just once as the Chiefs were able to get by the tight checking and gain entry into the Viper zone.  Jacob Hand would score his first of the season off of a rebound and the Chiefs got the game deadlocked.  The remainder of the opening frame was tightly contested until the Vipers were able to force the Chiefs into an icing call.  The Vipers would win the face off and Dexter Dancs would score to give Vernon a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

The second period was primarily controlled by Vernon.  They outshot the Chiefs 15-6, but could only manage one goal.  That goal was crucial for two reasons.  It gave the Vipers a 2 goal lead and it came on the powerplay.  It was the first time in three games the man advantage would score and it was Mason Blacklock with a perfectly placed wrist shot.

The Vipers would tack one more on in the final period as Blacklock would score his team leading 10th of the season and second of the night to seal it.

My 3 Key Thoughts

1) Forcing the Issue - Its no secret the Chiefs are struggling.  It was crucial to the confidence of the Vipers to make life as difficult for Chilliwack as possible.  With a few minor exceptions I would say mission accomplished.  Although there were no glaring turnovers in the Chilliwack end, the Chiefs struggled all night to sustain much offense.

2) D Chipping In - The Vipers are known to have an older, more veteran group of defensemen who take care of business in their own end.  Tonight, Jason Bird and Riley Guenther would each get a pair of assists to aid in the offense.  For the hard work all defensemen put in, its nice to see their names appear on the score sheet.

3) Don't Poke the Bear - It will be very interesting to see if the Chilliwack Chiefs react to Liam Coughlin putting the puck into their net after the final horn had sounded.  It had the players on the ice riled up and that could be the type of motivating factor the Chiefs are looking for.  I'm of the belief that that play didn't have to happen and was unnecessary, but I do know that things could be quite interesting tomorrow night in Chilliwack.

All in all a nice night for the Vipers, who look to finish the home and home set at the Prospera Centre with a win.  You can catch all the action with Village Green Hotel Vipers Hockey on 1075 KISSFM starting with the  pregame show at 6:45 from Chilliwack.