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GAME RECAP: 2nd Period Undoing Sees Warriors Fall 7-4 To Vipers

PHOTO: Julie Pringle/Snap Photography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JANUARY 26th, 2018

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors surrendered six goals in the 2nd period before falling by a 7-4 score to the Vernon Vipers on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.

The Vipers opened the game outshooting the Warriors by a 7-3 margin in a bit of a feeling out process between the two teams. The Warriors had a power play that they could not score on before their second man advantage lasted only 28 seconds before a Warriors penalty negated that to create 4-on-4 hockey and as a result, the game’s opening goal.

Jake Harrison stretched a pass out of his own zone to RJ Murphy at centre ice as he lugged his way down the right-wing at the end of his shift. Murphy got in behind the Vipers defense and snapped a shot past the blocker side of Vipers netminder Ty Taylor for his 14th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the home team.

In a pretty even opening 20 minutes of play, the Vipers held the lead in the shots on goal category by a 10-8 margin with Warriors goaltender Nik Amundrud looking sharp through the 1st period with 10 saves while Taylor turned aside 7 of the 8 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.

The 2nd period took a turn for the worst as the Vipers struck for six goals in the frame, starting just 12 seconds into the period as Brett Stapley got a puck after it bounced off a defender at the front of the goal and beat Amundrud on the glove side from the left face-off circle to tie the game at 1-1.

The Warriors responded with a surge as Murphy found the back of the net for the second time in the game at the 4:06 mark of the middle stanza as he rushed down the right-wing and slid the puck through the legs of Taylor for his 15th goal of the season and a 2-1 Warriors lead.

Just 50 seconds after Murphy’s second tally of the game, Ryan Steele collected his fourth goal in the last two games at the 4:56 mark off a strong fore checking effort. Steele knocked the puck off of the Vipers defense and raced below the face-off circle before outwaiting Taylor and sliding the puck by the glove side for his 12th goal of the season and extended the Warriors lead to 3-1.

Then came the barrage of goals from the Vipers.

At the 6:08 mark of the 2nd period, on a Vipers power play, Derek Brown found a loose puck in front of the goal on a rebound of a Chris Jandric shot and beat Amundrud on the glove side to cut the Warriors lead to 3-2.

Just under two minutes later at the 8:55 mark of the frame, Jesse Lansdell tied the game. A shoot-in from the blue line off the stick of Michael Young was mishandled by Amundrud on the glove side as Lansdell swooped in and got the puck past the Warriors goaltender on the glove side to tie the game at 3.

The Vipers got the first lead of the game on the heels of a five-minute major penalty handed to Stephen Kleysen for boarding, also receiving a game misconduct on the play. Brown had the puck bounce to him on a rebound in the identical spot in the slot on the power play and put in his second of the game and gave Vernon a 4-3 advantage, ending the night for Nik Amundrud in the Warriors goal crease.

Brown was at it again to cap off the second period hat trick with a goal at the 15:32 mark of the frame off of another rebound in the left-wing face-off circle, turning and beating new goaltender Cole Demers with a wrist shot over the blocker shoulder for a two-goal lead.

The Vipers finished off their six-goal 2nd period with a late tally at the 18:27 mark of the frame with Jimmy Lambert converting on a pass to the left face-off circle and getting it past Demers for a 6-3 lead heading into the final period of play.

Coleton Bilodeau connected on his first BCHL goal as he toe-dragged at the top of the right face-off circle and snapped a shot over the blocker shoulder of Demers for a 7-3 Vipers lead at the 5:58 mark of the 3rd period.

The scoring came to an end late in the 3rd period with Bennett Norlin finding the back of the net for his 5th tally of the season. Norlin took a Michael Lombardi pass down the right-wing and rushed in on his backhand before sliding a puck through the legs of Taylor to make the final score 7-4 in favour of Vernon.

Nik Amundrud started the game in between the pipes for the Warrior, turning aside 20 of the 24 shots he faced in the game before being relieved by Cole Demers, who stopped 12 of the 15 shots thrown his direction and took the loss on the night, his 7th of the season. Ty Taylor started for the Vipers and stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced in the game for his 19th win of the season.

FINAL SCORE: 7-4 Vipers

FINAL SHOTS ON GOAL: 39-31 Vipers

Warriors PP: 0/3

Warriors PK: 5/7

3 Stars:

1) Derek Brown (3-0-3)

2) Jimmy Lambert (1-1-2)

3) Alex Swetlikoff (0-2-2)

Fortis Energy Player of the Game: RJ Murphy (2-0-2)

ATTENDANCE: 982

The Warriors (23-22-1-1) round out the fourth and final game of their current home stand with a matchup against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (14-24-4-4) on Sunday afternoon. It’s West Kelowna Minor Hockey Day as the final Skate with the Warriors will take place immediately following the final buzzer with puck drop slated for 2:30 PM. Tickets are available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour prior to puck drop.