Coquitlam, BC: Reagan Milburn had a powerplay goal and Ethan David stopped 27 shots, but the Vipers fell a goal short, 2-1 to the Coquitlam Express.
The Vipers started the game off well outshooting Coquitlam 7-0 in the first 10 minutes. The PK killed off the only Express chance of the period and the shots finished 11-10 in Vernon’s favour after 1 period.
After killing off an early penalty the Vipers earned their first man advantage of the night and Reagan Milburn struck with a one-timer past new goalie Brady Smith making it 1-0. They had chances on a second powerplay but couldn’t increase their lead. Coquitlam struck for two goals in about 90 seconds from Aaron Brown and Gavin Giesbrecht.
There wasn’t a lot of room to move in the third as the Vipers pushed for the equalizer. The Vipers came a goal post away, but it went post and out, rather than in and the Vipers simply ran out of time.
The Vipers will be back home Friday night when they host the Cranbrook Bucks at 7pm.