VICTORIA, B.C. SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
For the third time this season, the Vernon Vipers were a part of an oppositions home opener and for the third time were able to take the wind out of the sails of the home team early.
Jordan Sandhu finished off a nice deke after a Grizzlies turnover for his first of the season. The Grizz responded less than two minutes later as Alex Newhook set up Justin Michaelian for his 5th of the season on a rocket to the top shelf. The Vipers didn’t relent when it came to their forecheck pressure and continued to cause a number of turnovers. One in particular allowed Tanner Wishnowski to walk down broadway and snipe home his 2nd of the season to make it 2-1 Vipers. The Vipers would take advantage of a late powerplay opportunity as Chris Jandric ripped home his first of the season in the final minute to give his team a 3-1 lead after 1. Shots finished 19-3 Vernon after 20 minutes.
The Grizzlies were better in the second, but it was a tale of turnovers and missed opportunities for the Vipers as they had a ton of chances to extend their lead. Their inability to do that made things dicy in the frame as TJ Friedmann cut into the Viper lead with his 3rd of the season. Again it was a late period goal that took the pressure off as Josh Prokop scored his 2nd of the year on a shot that snuck through the arm of goaltender Zack Rose. The Vipers carried the all important 2 goal lead into the dressing room after 2 periods.
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The Vipers increased their lead thanks to their 2nd powerplay of the game as Michael Young snapped home his first BCHL goal following a beautiful saucer pass from Brett Stapley to make it 5-2. The Grizzlies would test Ty Taylor 14 times in the period, but couldn’t make any progress and the final would be 5-2.
The Vipers had five different goal scorers and Ty Taylor turned aside 22 of 24 for his 3rd win of the season.
The Snakes are next in action Saturday night in Nanaimo. You can catch all the action on 107.5 KissFM starting at 5:45 from the Frank Crane Arena
