Home ice remains a place that Vipers utilize to get back on track and Saturday night was no exception. They were one step ahead of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs all night and skated away with a 4-1 win. The top line got back on the board and the great play of the gritty players finally led to some offense.
Just like a night before, the Vernon Vipers came out skating hard. Getting pucks deep and really flowing through the neutral zone. Nice passes from the D zone helped that, but things were just going in the right direction. The Vipers would get on the board first off an odd man rush as Logan Mick would score his first in quite some time. The Vipers killed off a double minor and turned it into momentum. However, the best player on the ice for the first thirty minutes of this game was Nathan Warren, but we'll talk about him a bit later. The Vipers scored a crucial goal late in the period as Michael McNicholas would pick the top corner from in close to make it 2-0 after 1.
An early PP I thought would allow the Bulldogs to carry the play early, despite not being able to score. The Bulldogs were also a little sloppy and the Vipers had a number of odd man rushes and once again Nathan Warren made a handful of huge saves to keep his team in the game. Late in the period it seemed the Bulldogs would reward their goalie after a crazy pinball goal would be credited to Mitch Owsley. The Vipers responded immediately as Dexter Dancs would finish off a nice passing play just 33 seconds later to get the lead back to 2 after 2.
The Vipers tightened up in the third despite some nice attempts from the Bulldogs to get back into the game. Austin Smith was tested a number of times, but was up to the challenge. Brendan Persley would seal the game with his 5th of the season just shy of the midway mark. That would be the way the game ended after two more kills for the PK unit.
My 3 Key Thoughts
1) - Logan Mick - Without question he is playing his best hockey of the season. At times its been a struggle for Mick offensively, but starting Tuesday and Friday Mick has been using his feet and speed and that combination has led to a number of quality chances. It was at the point where you knew at some point those breaks were going to go in and he did convert for his third of the season. When you can get contributions from guys like Mick, Dumonceaux and the other depth guys, it will only serve this team well.
2) - Top Line Contributes - Whether its complacency or teams putting more focus on the Vipers top players, they came in sputtering offensively, tonight they were in on 2 of the 4 Viper goals. McNicholas, Dancs and Coughlin created numerous chances and scored two beauties. Sometimes I think this threesome struggles because they don't often score ugly goals. The talent is there and the highlight reel is full of goals these guys can score.
3) - Nathan Warren - In what was a surprise start, Nathan Warren was given his first BCHL start. Despite being greeted rudely by the Vipers early, he settled down and made at least 5 impressive saves. The game could very well have been 5 or 6 nothing in the middle period had it not been for the PG products great play. Its going to be tough for the young man to get ice time behind Connor LaCouvee, but this performance will show the Bulldog coaching staff, that he's up to every challenge.
The Vipers get back at it for a Sunday matinee at the Shaw Centre starting at 2:45 with the pregame show. You can catch all the action on 107.5 KissFM.
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