Vipers Shut Out In Home Opener

It wasn't the start the Vipers were looking for in their home opener, as the West Kelowna Warriors dished out a bit of revenge Saturday night with a 4-0 win over the home town Vipers.  Overall, I thought the teams matched up rather well for the second consecutive night, but there were differences from the game the night before.  I thought West Kelowna ironed out their defensive errors, Andy Desautels was lights out and they received contributions from their top line.  Contrarily, for the Vipers the PP couldn't click, they had some bounces and calls go against them and that put them in a hole they couldn't get out of.

The Warriors opened the scoring after a big penalty kill.  Jordan Masters was in the box for a 4 minute double minor, which the Vipers couldn't score on, then out of the box comes Masters for a rush with Cotton, Masters parks himself in front of the net and bangs home a loose puck to make it 1-0.  Just moments later it was Masters turn for a wrap around which somehow founds its way under the pad of Todosychuk and late in the 1st period it was 2-0.

In the second period it was a parade to the penalty box for the home team as they would find themselves shorthanded 4 times.  The Warriors, however, increased the lead even strength as Brett Mennear re-directed a Ferner point shot through the legs of Todosychuk and it was 3-0.  Just under 4 minutes later while on a 5 on 3, Kylar Hope poked home a loose puck at the side of the net and the Tribe opened the game up leading 4-0.

The third opened with a new goaltender as Jarrod Schamerhorn would replace Todosychuk.  I don't believe Danny was pulled because of his performance, I think it had more to do with sparking the rest of the team as well as evaluating Schamerhorn.  There was no scoring in the final period.  Vernon found themselves with 5 powerplay opportunities, but couldn't convert and Andy Desautels shut the door as the Warriors took it 4-0.

Here is the scoring summary:

Period 1

West K Warriors - Jordan Masters (1) - (Cotton, Blackburn) - 16:04
West K Warriors - Jordan Masters (2) - (PP) - (Blackburn, Cotton) - 18:32

Period 2

West K Warriors - Brett Mennear (2) - (Ferner) - 5:05
West K Warriors - Kylar Hope (2) - (PP) - (Bly, Blumenschein) - 8:55

Shots - West K 33    Vernon - 30

Powerplays - West K 2 for 7    Vernon 0 for 8

The Vipers will need a short memory as they have a quick turnaround and a matinee matchup with the Langley Rivermen on Sunday.  Puck drop is 2pm from KTP.