Vernon, BC: Dawson Holt had 2 goals and 2 assists including a big shorthanded marker in the 2nd period as the Vipers defeated the Wenatchee Wild on Teddy Bear Toss Night at Kal Tire Place.
In the first period the Wild had the early momentum thanks to a powerplay. The Viper penalty kill was able to kill it off, but the Wild had pressure for a good chunk of the next few minutes. Wenatchee opened the scoring as Brett Chorske ripped home a shot from the right circle to make it 1-0. The Vipers had a nice pushback after the media timeout and started to make plays to escape the zone with speed. A prime example of this was on the Vipers opening goal as JoJo Tanaka-Campbell set up Matt Kowalski for the Teddy Bear Toss goal on a breakaway to make it 1-1. Its the second straight year a local product scored the big goal. Shots finished 12-10 in Wenatchees favour.
The Wild had a few chances early in the second period, but James Porter Jr. was stellar making a number of crucial saves including a big save on Nicholas Chmelevski. A Wenatchee powerplay saw the visitors regain their lead as Brian Adams banged home a rebound at the side of the net to make it 2-1. The Vipers would get a powerplay of their own on the next shift and Cam MacDonald would equalize on a snap shot from the circle through the five hole of Daniel Chenard making it 2-2. The Vipers then faced a big hole shortly after as Landon Fuller would be assessed a five minute major. The Vipers though were clutch and it started with the turning point in the hockey game as Connor Marritt set up Dawson Holt for the shorthanded marker early in the PK to make it 3-2. It was Holt's 3rd shorthanded goal of the season. The Vipers then would need goaltending, shot blocking and tenacity as they killed off the remaining 4 and a half minutes. In the final minute of the period, the powerplay struck again as MacDonald spotted Caller in the left circle and the defenceman made no mistake to give the Vipers a 4-2 lead after 2 periods.
The Wild pushed early in the third and cut the deficit to one goal as Drew Bavaro's point shot made its way through a maze of bodies making it 4-3 pretty early in the third. From there as the Wild pushed, the Vipers played a pretty strategic style of hockey. They didn't play with any sense of panic with the pressure from the visitors picking up. At one point there were a handful of stoppages slowing the flow of play. That went to the benefit of the home team as the Vipers got their two lead restored as Elan Bar-lev-Wise set up Dawson Holt for his 2nd of the night to make it 5-3. Vernon would earn another powerplay and again it would capitalize as Cam MacDonald finished off a nice passing play to make it 6-3. The Wild refused to go away and would make it 6-4 on a Hunter Hastings goal, but thats as close as they would get as the horn sounded to give the Vipers the 6-4 win and their 3rd straight victory.
The Vipers will have a quick turnaround as they will make tracks to Merritt for a matinee with the Centennials.
