Game 2 - Vipers 5 Smokies 2

A day after a very disappointing effort on home ice, the Vipers were determined to get back to basics, back to what they worked on for the last two weeks and back to Viper hockey.  That determination was evident in the Vipers 5-2 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters.  A night after losing their home opener, the Vipers spoiled the Trail home opener in a very tidy road performance that saw contributions up and down the lineup, some nice defensive efforts and some stellar goaltending.

The Vipers would open the scoring early as Mike Roberts would pounce on a loose puck in the high slot and rifle it high over the glove of Bailey MacBurnie.  Less than 4 minutes later, Joey Cipollone would have some skating room down the left wing and snapped a hard wrist shot far post and in to double the Snake lead.  Trail veteran, Kurt Black would cut the lead in half as he would crash the crease and deposit his first goal of the season.  Moments later on a powerplay Colton McCarthy would chip home a rebound to make it 3-1.  Four goals in less than 10 minutes.  Play would settle down a little bit and both teams seemed to be skating well.  The end of 20 minutes had the score remain 3-1 Vipers.

An entertaining second period some some good structure and speed from both sides as they tried to generate answers.  A parade of penalties thwarted the games momentum for a good part of the frame, but ironically the only goal of the period was an even strength goal from Jake Kauppila as he parked himself in front for a nice pass from Kurt Black from behind the net to make it 3-2 after 2.

In the third, and only leading by a goal I thought the Vipers did a nice job of containing the Smoke Eater pressure.  At times Trail had trouble gaining the Viper zone and actually spent a good chuck of the period in their own end.  Liam Finlay would restore a two goal lead as he showed off some nice hand eye coordination to kick a puck towards the goal, then make sure to touch it with his stick before it crossed the line, making the score 4-2.  Riley Brandt would ice it into an empty net to finish the game off at 5-2.

Here is the official box score:

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

1-0 Vernon Vipers at 3:44 - Michael Roberts from Joe Cipollone

2-0 Vernon Vipers at 6:08 - Joe Cipollone (unassisted)

2-1 Trail Smoke Eaters at 8:25 - Kurt Black from Jake Kauppila

3-1 Vernon Vipers at 9:27 (PP) - Colton McCarthy from Bo Pellah and Riley Brandt

PERIOD 2

3-2 Trail Smoke Eaters at 5:03 - Jake Kauppila from Kurt Black

PERIOD 3

4-2 Vernon Vipers at 5:43 - Liam Finlay from Peter Tufto and Steven Jandric

5-2 Vernon Vipers at 16:45 (EN)- Riley Brandt from Colton McCarthy and Jimmy Lambert

Here are tonight's 3 Stars:

STARS OF THE GAME
1st STAR	2nd STAR	3rd STAR
Vernon Vipers Liam Finlay	Trail Smoke Eaters Kurt Black	Vernon Vipers Michael Roberts

POWER PLAYS
Vernon Vipers	1 for 7 (14.3%)
Trail Smoke Eaters	0 for 5 (00.0%)

The Vipers did a nice job of shaking off the bus legs early in the game and were able to generate a lead that they would not relinquish despite Trails best efforts.

Andrew Shortridge was very good in goal for the Vipers turning aside 35 of 37 shots for his first BCHL Regular Season win.  He didn't have to be spectacular, but stopped the ones he was supposed to and his rebound control was impeccable.

Again, I thought Trail was impressive.  They refused to go away and seemed at times, like they were a bounce away from swinging the momentum back in their favour.

Next up for the Vipers is another road game and another home opener as they head to the SOEC to face Tyson Jost, and the Penticton Vees.  Pregame show starts at 6:45, puck drop at 7 in Penticton.