POWELL RIVER, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 – A slow start and two quick goals against proved to be the true difference maker in the Vipers 5-3 loss in Powell River. The Vipers trailed 3-0 after 1 and couldn’t quite track down the Kings who led for all but 2 minutes. The work ethic improved, but the result didn’t as the Snakes fell on the first leg of this Island road trip.
The Vipers scuffled out the gates in the first period as for the first handful of minutes it was all Powell River. That pressure would reward the home side as Curtis McCarrick and Cam Donaldson would tally in the first five minutes to spark their club. The Vipers had a solid 8 minutes of play where they took plenty of shots, won plenty of faceoffs, but couldn’t get anything past Brian Wilson. The best chance of the period when to Riley Brandt in tight as that line worked the puck off the boards to the front of the net, but the big body of Wilson was able to smother the puck. The Kings took advantage of a late powerplay as Johan Steen scored his first goal of the season from the right circle with a ton of traffic in front of Taylor.
It was a much better effort for the Vipers in the second period as they really controlled the flow of play for a good chunk of the frame and that resulted in them getting on the scoreboard as Tyler Maser poked home a rebound in front for his first goal in the BCHL. Jagger Williamson scored a beautiful shorthanded goal a few moments later and the deficit was just 1. The Kings didn’t roll over and tallied a Powerplay marker 29 seconds later off the stick of Donaldson, before Gavin Rauser provided a bit of insurance with just 27 seconds left and the period finished 5-2.
The Vipers had a great effort in the third period trying to cut into the deficit, but the Kings played a very smart defensive game and slowed up the Vipers through the neutral zone and constantly chipped pucks out of their zone quickly. The Vipers were able to tack on one off the stick of Ryan Brushett, but the horn would sound as the Vipers fell 5-3.
The Vipers are back in action Saturday night in Alberni Valley as they take on the Bulldogs. Puck drop is at 7 with the pregame show at 6:45 on 107.5 KissFM.
