Wenatchee, WA, USA: The Vipers saw a 3 goal lead evaporate, but Michael Young found the back of the net for his second of the night just 26 seconds into overtime to give his team a 4-3 win and 1-0 series lead.
The Wild jumped out to an early shot advantage at two different points, the shots were 4-1 and 8-4 respectively for the home side. Aidan Porter was stellar in the period tracking the puck well. The best chance early in the period came to Connor Marritt who had a chance on a 2 on 1, but was denied by Austin Park. The Vipers opened the scoring as Lane Zablocki won a race out of the left wing corner, spotted Michael Young, who in turn slapped a puck past Austin Park to make it 1-0. Shortly after that, the Wild turned the puck over and Lane Zablocki converted for his first of the playoffs snapping one low to the blocker side and it was 2-0. That would spell the end of the night for Park who was replaced by Cal Sanquist who stopped 2 shots the rest of the period. It was 2-0 Vipers after 1 period.
Early in the second period, the Vipers increased their lead to three as Matt Kowalski caused a turnover, found Brendan Kim who laid up a nice pass to Josh Latta who struck for his 4th goal of the playoffs. The Vipers had more opportunities, but Sandquist was very good. A big save from Sandquist led to a goal at the other end as PJ Fletcher was set up by Blake Bargar and it was 3-1. A few minutes later those two would team up again and again it was Fletcher, this time on a rebound and it was 3-2 after 2.
The Vipers continued to get their chances and definitely did not sit on their lead, but the Wild tied the game up at 3 just past the 8 minute mark as Brian Adams finished off a rebound in front. Both teams had looks on powerplays in the period but didn’t convert. Both teams pushed the pace in a frenetic finish to regulation, but neither side could get the lead and overtime was needed.
In the extra period, Michael Young’s shot from the right point hit a body in front and deflected past Sandquist to give the Vipers a 4-3 win and a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 goes Sunday night at 7:05 from the Town Toyota Center.
