Wenatchee, WA, USA: The Vernon Vipers pushed for a late equalizer, but came up just short as they fell 2-1 to the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night.
The Wild jumped out with a great chance early on as Max Palaga stoned Brett Chorske on a 2 on 1. The game settled down after that as both teams traded chances. The Wild opened the scoring as Jack Bayless snapped home a centering feed to make it 1-0. The Vipers PP had some looks in the period, but the closest they would come was a Matt Kowalski one timer hitting the goal post. The shots in the period finished 10-8 Wenatchee who led 1-0 after 1.
In the second period, the Vipers did a nice job of getting in on the forecheck and causing some havoc. The visitors continued to get some good looks at the net, but couldn’t get one behind Daniel Chenard. Wenatchee increased their lead as Brian Adams snapped a shot low to the glove side of Palaga on a 2 on 1 to make it 2-0 after 2 periods.
In the third, the Vipers found a gear and really pushed the pace. Ben Helgeson was stopped on a one time from the circle, which was just one of many opportunities in the frame. Landon Fuller was able to poke home a loose puck during a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-1, following a power move out of the corner by Connor Sleeth. Ben Sanderson drew a penalty on a partial breakaway, but the Vipers man advantage couldn’t find the twine. A late push with the goalie pulled saw the Vipers get a chance, but it wasn’t to be as the final horn sounded giving the Wild a 2-1 win.
The Vipers will look to return to the win column when they finish off their 3 game road trip tomorrow night at 7:05 from the Town Toyota Center.
- – PHOTO CREDIT: Russ Alman / Digital Media Northwest
