Vernon, BC: Luke Buss had the lone Viper goal and Ethan David stopped 22 of 26 as the Vipers fell in the exhibition opener to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks by a 4-1 margin.
The Vipers found themselves behind early as the Backs struck on the first shot of the game after Isaac Lambert snapped a shot from the right circle past the Viper keeper. The Vipers settled down nicely and responded with a nice chance of their own as Ryan Watt was stopped on a breakaway chance.
Luke Buss equalized with game with a laser from the left circle while the Vipers were on a powerplay to make it 1-1. The tie game only last a minute before the Backs re-took the lead with an Owen Beckner goal.
The Backs added to their lead with goals from Nathan Mackie and Nathan Morin to salt the game away.
“It was the first game in a long time for a lot of the players and the inconsistency showed,” said Head Coach and GM of the Vipers Jason McKee. “I would have expected to see more emotion from the group, but there were a few good individual performances from tonight’s game.
The Vipers will next be in action Friday night when they travel to Penticton to take on the Vees.
