Vernon, BC: The Vernon Vipers look to finish off a 3 game home stand on the right foot tonight as they host the Prince George Spruce Kings in a Fred Page Cup Final rematch from last season.
The Vipers (25-20-2-1) come into the game following a big come from behind win on Wednesday night against the Wenatchee Wild. The Vipers erased a 2 goal deficit in the third period as Ben Helgeson, Logan Cash and Cam MacDonald all had goals. Keegan Karki was solid in relief stopping all 15 shots he faced to earn his first BCHL win. The Vipers held the Wild to just 23 shots despite being shorthanded 4 times. The Viper penalty kill was clutch killing off all 4 Wenatchee powerplays. With those kills, the PK improved to 85.1% which is 4th best in the BCHL. Reagan Milburn has been called up from the Thompson Blazers (BCMML) to suit up for his 2nd game in a week. He didn’t look out of place last Friday in West Kelowna getting some good hits and lots of minutes.
The Spruce Kings (16-27-2-3) are on a bit of a slide of late. They are in the middle of a 6 game road trip and have dropped the last 3. Most recently on Wednesday night, they fell 9-2 to the Trail Smoke Eaters. Corey Cunningham had a pair of goals in the loss. Jett Alexander allowed 6 goals before being replaced by Carter Woodside who surrendered the final 3 goals. The defending BCHL Champs have gone through a bit of a rebuild with just 6 players currently on their roster from last year and one of them (Chong Min Lee) out with an injury. The Spruce Kings are led offensively by 18 year old Nick Poisson. They 2nd year forward has 19 goals and 24 assists in 43 games played. In goal, Jett Alexander has done the bulk of the work getting into 38 games this season. They acquired the rights to Carter Woodside and he’s helped stem the tide a bit getting into 13 games since coming over from the KIJHL.
Its the 2nd and final meeting of the season between these two teams. The Vipers won the only meeting in Prince George in November by a 2-1 score in a shootout.
Its $5 Fridays which means students and kids are just $5. You can get your tickets for the game by CLICK HERE.
You can also catch the game on 107.5 Beach Radio, Vernon Matters and HockeyTV.
