Vernon, BC: The Vipers hope to use home ice advantage tonight as they come home with a series split with the West Kelowna Warriors through 2 games at Royal LePage Place.
The Vipers earned a hard fought split in the first two games in West K despite falling 5-3 in Game 2 on Saturday. Reagan Milburn had a pair of goals and Cam MacDonald pitched in with a pair of assists. The major storyline was a mediocre second period that saw the Vipers fall to a 4-1 disadvantage. For the second straight game, the Vipers outshot the Warriors and kept them below 30 shots. A point of focus was the penalty kill, that despite only being called into action twice, failed to get a kill. Another positive point was the resolve shown when trailing 5-1. The Vipers scored 2 goals in 69 seconds to cut the deficit and had it not been for some great goaltending could very well have chipped it away.
The Warriors responded well after their first loss in 11 games. Their stars came to the forefront as Tyler Cristall sniped a pair of powerplay markers and Charles-Alexis Legault pinched in with some helpers. Johnny Derrick stopped 27 of 30 for the win. The Tribes powerplay was dangerous on both opportunities.
The line of MacDonald, JoJo and Milburn has been a force through two games. They’ve got a combined 5 goals and 4 assists. For West Kelowna, Charles-Alexis Legault has had a good start to the series with a goal and 3 assists.
So far through 2 games these two teams have stacked up very consistent. The Vipers have narrowly outscored the Warriors 8-7, but the West K powerplay has been effective with 3 goals.
If you can’t make it to Kal Tire Place you can catch all the action on BCHL.TV or 107.5 Beach Radio.
