The Viper powerplay which has had its ups and downs to start the season looked very strong early on in the game as Colton McCarthy would tip in his first of two goals just 75 seconds into the game. Odeen Tufto would jam home the second powerplay goal of the night 6 minutes later and the Vipers were off and running. There was one problem, the play of Liam McCloskey. The Vipers peppered the Prince George goaltender early and often. McCloskey made a handful of impressive saves to keep the Viper lead at just 2-0.
The Spruce Kings would get a powerplay of their own early in the second and Cavin Tilsley would poke home a loose puck to make it 2-1. That goal would spark PG as they started to move their feet and move the puck at a much higher rate. At times when they looked slow in the first period, they looked much faster in the second. Just past the midway mark of the second, Corey Hoffman would tip in a shot from the boards to tie the game up after 2 periods.
The Vipers just didn't really look engaged after the first period. They were doing a lot of things well, but not at the pace the coaching staff would prefer. They weren't as hard on pucks and lost a few too many battles. The Spruce Kings however looked very engaged and were able to take their first lead of the night as Braiden Epp would put home another powerplay goal to make it 3-2. Just 30 seconds late Adam Brubacher would score to make it 4-2. The Vipers continued to put up a lot of shots, but most were from outside that McCloskey could handle. Colton McCarthy scored in the final minute on a powerplay, a near mirror image of his first goal, to make it 4-3, but that's as close as the Vipers would get.
Here is the official scoring summary:
| SCORING SUMMARY |
| PERIOD 1 |
| 1-0 Vernon Vipers at 1:15 (PP) - Colton McCarthy from Riley Brandt and Mac Ferner |
| 2-0 Vernon Vipers at 6:45 (PP) - Odeen Tufto from Joe Cipollone and Bo Pellah |
| PERIOD 2 |
| 2-1 Prince George Spruce Kings at 3:14 (PP) - Cavin Tilsley from Alex Stoley and Matthew Stief |
| 2-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 11:44 - Corey Hoffman from Kyle Johnson and Braiden Epp |
| PERIOD 3 |
| 3-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 1:59 (PP) - Braiden Epp from Rylan Bechtel and Kyle Johnson |
| 4-2 Prince George Spruce Kings at 2:27 (PP) - Adam Brubacher from Bryan Basilico and Rylan Bechtel |
| 4-3 Vernon Vipers at 19:01 (PP) - Colton McCarthy from Mac Ferner and Mitchell Oliver |
| STARS OF THE GAME | ||
 1st STAR | 2nd STAR | 3rd STAR |
| Prince George Spruce Kings Liam McCloskey | Vernon Vipers Colton McCarthy | Prince George Spruce Kings Braiden Epp |
| POWER PLAYS | |
| Prince George Spruce Kings | 3 for 3 (100.0%) |
| Vernon Vipers | 3 for 8 (37.5%) |
For the Vipers its back to gut check time. The really good teams find ways to put the opposition away early, especially when putting 50 shots at the net.
The Powerplay was effective converting at 37.5%, the PK however was victimized all 3 times. The coaching staff has very much liked the way the PK goes about their business and at times, bounces may not go your way. That was entirely the case on Saturday as the goals were all off scrambles in front of the net. Some nights you tip your cap to the opposition for getting those bounces to go their way.
Brendan Barry looked pretty good in his first start as a Vernon Viper. His numbers won't reflect it, but the pucks that beat him were off pucks normally cleared from the slot by the D. He was square to the puck many times, and battled hard to see pucks through traffic. At times it looked like he over committed, but not having played much this season, he was very good.
Next up for the Vipers is a home date against the Trail Smoke Eaters on Wednesday night. Its an internet only broadcast, so we'll see you at the rink or give me a follow on twitter, graham_vipers for the mixlr link. Also it can be found on Fasthockey.
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