Vernon, BC: The Vernon Vipers look to head into the BCHL All-Star Break on a positive note tonight as they visit the league-leading West Kelowna Warriors at Royal LePage Place.
Overview
Vernon enters the matchup aiming to snap a three-game winless streak, while West Kelowna opens a brief two-game homestand that will be split by the All-Star Weekend. Tonight’s contest is just one of two road games for the Vipers in the month of January.
Last Games
Vernon
The Vipers are coming off a 4–1 loss last night at Kal Tire Place against the Cranbrook Bucks. Toms Trockis provided the lone Vernon goal, his eighth of the season, extending his point streak to eight games. Dmitrii Kubantsev and Evan Sundar picked up the assists. In goal, Colton Jugnauth made 26 saves on 30 shots. Vernon went 0-for-4 on the power play but was perfect on the penalty kill, going 3-for-3.
West Kelowna
The Warriors earned a hard-fought 5–4 road victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters last night at Cominco Arena. West Kelowna struck quickly, scoring three goals in under four minutes to chase Trail starter Lyam Leblanc and build an early lead. Natan Ethier led the offense with two goals, while Caden Kemkaran-Humble added a goal and an assist. Angelo Zol stopped 23 of 27 shots to earn his 17th win of the season, second-most in the BCHL. The Warriors finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
By the Numbers
Vernon
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Record: 8-18-5-0
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Road Record: 4-9-1-0
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Last 10: 4-6-0-0
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Power Play: 16.8% (19th BCHL)
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Penalty Kill: 77.1% (11th BCHL)
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Goals For: 100 (15th BCHL)
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Goals Against: 128 (16th BCHL)
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Goal Differential: -28 (17th BCHL)
West Kelowna
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Record: 23-6-2-0
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Home Record: 14-2-1-0
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Last 10: 7-3-0-0
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Power Play: 26.2% (5th BCHL)
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Penalty Kill: 83.5% (3rd BCHL)
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Goals For: 112 (10th BCHL)
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Goals Against: 64 (1st BCHL)
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Goal Differential: +48 (3rd BCHL)
Scoring Leaders
Vernon
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Dmitrii Kubantsev — 9G, 19A (28 points), 2nd among 2008-born players
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Christian Maro — 10G, 17A (27 points)
West Kelowna
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Dylan Krayer — 15G, 18A (33 points)
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Ruslan Jamaldinov — 15G, 17A (32 points)
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Natan Ethier — 19G, 7A (26 points)
Head to Head
Tonight marks the fifth of seven meetings between the Vipers and Warriors this season, with West Kelowna holding a 3–1 edge in the series.
Previous Meetings
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Sept. 30 — West Kelowna 5, Vernon 3 (Royal LePage Place)
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Nov. 22 — Vernon 4, West Kelowna 2 (Kal Tire Place)
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Nov. 29 — West Kelowna 5, Vernon 0 (Royal LePage Place)
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Dec. 19 — West Kelowna 3, Vernon 0 (Kal Tire Place)
Upcoming Meetings
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January 24 — at Vernon
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February 27 — at West Kelowna
From a standings perspective, the Vipers enter tonight sitting one point ahead of Cranbrook for the final playoff spot in the Interior West Division, with a game in hand on the Bucks. West Kelowna holds a six-point cushion atop the Interior West standings, with Trail sitting second and holding a game in hand on the Warriors.
Broadcast Information
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, with the pregame show beginning at 6:45 PM.
Fans can follow the action live on:
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107.5 Beach Radio
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Vernon Matters (audio stream)
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FloHockey (video)
#TimeToStrike
