It's not the way the Vernon Vipers wanted to start their 3 game island road trip, as they were shutout by the Powell River Kings, 3-0. At times the team looked as if they were a step behind the Kings who used their speed and tenacious forechecking to stymy the Viper breakout. The Kings out shot, out hustled and out played the Vipers and were well deserving of the win.
It was a great start to the game for both teams who came out skating and hitting. On the box score the shots were lopsided, but for the first 10 minutes it was very even. The Kings would capitalize on a scramble in front of the Viper net as Kyle Betts would pot home the loose puck to give Powell River a 1-0 lead. The Vipers would get a good chance to draw it even as late in the period, Chris Protopoulos would be assessed a major penalty for a check from behind that saw Callum Volpe collide dangerously with the end boards. Volpe looked to be ok, but the Viper PP wasn't able to generate much during the man advantage and the first 20 ended 1-0 PR.
The Vipers looked to put more pucks at Jeff Smith in the second and were able to do so, but nothing overly dangerous. An unfortunate mistake on a dump in, saw Kyle Betts streak in on a breakaway and snap it past Shortridge to give the home team a 2-0 lead. Just 68 seconds later, on a delayed penalty, Andy Stevens scored his second of the season on a point shot through traffic to make it 3-0 after two.
The Kings really shut it down in the third as there were just 13 shots in the entire period, six of them from the Vipers. The Vipers did have a few good chances to cut into the deficit, but those opportunities were thwarted by Smith. In the end the Vipers couldn't muster enough to get on he score sheet and would fall 3-0.
The Vipers won't have much time to dwell on this one as they have to prepare for the red hot Nanaimo Clippers. Puck drop from the Frank Crane Arena is 6pm and you can listen on KissFM starting at 5:45
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