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Vipers Finish Island Swing with 4-1 Win In Victoria

Victoria, BC:  Lane Zablocki scored twice including the game winner in the 3rd period and Bradley Cooper stopped 39 of 40 shots as the Vernon Vipers defeated the Victoria Grizzlies 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.

The Vipers controlled the first period.  Outshooting the Grizz 22-10 and generating a number of quality scoring chances.  Alex Newhook had a couple of chances early in the period, but Bradley Cooper came up strong.  The Vipers peppered the Grizzlies goal, but Zack Rose made a number of big saves to keep the game scoreless.  Victoria opened the scoring as Ryan Nolan cut in on a partial breakaway and found the five-hole on Cooper to make it 1-0.  That lead lasted just 48 seconds as Lane Zablocki walked off the left wall and snapped a hard shot over the blocker of Rose to make it 1-1 after 1.

There was no scoring in the middle period, but that didn’t mean there weren’t chances as Cooper and Rose stole the show.  The Grizzlies powerplay looked dangerous at times with 3 chances, but the Viper PK killed them off and the period ended the way it began, tied at 1.

In the third, the Grizzlies came close twice as Cam Thompson and Alex Newhook both hit goal posts.  The Vipers counterattacked and again it was Lane Zablocki with a mirror image of his first goal, snapping home his 3rd of the year to give the Vipers their first lead of the night.  Just 17 seconds later, Brendan Kim found some daylight from the right circle and wired it past Rose to make it 3-1.  The Grizzlies tried to mount a comeback, but the Vipers defense never wavered.  Logan Cash hit the empty net to make it 4-1 and that score would hold up as the final buzzer sounded.

Here’s the scoring summary:

1ST PERIOD

VIC – Ryan Nolan (18) – unassisted – 13:11

VER – Lane Zablocki (2) – unassisted – 13:59

2ND PERIOD

NO SCORING

3RD PERIOD

VER – Lane Zablocki 2 (3) – Ben Helgeson (13), Tyler Ho (5) – 8:56

VER – Brendan Kim (6) – Elan Ba lev wise (16), Michael Young (11) – 9:13

VER – Logan Cash (3) – Michael Young (12) – 18:57 (EN)

The Vipers road trip continues Friday as they travel to Trail to take on the Smoke Eaters.