Five out of six weekend points. Nine out of a possible 12 points halfway through their longest road swing of the season.
Vernon Vipers wrapped up a second straight three games in three days B.C. Hockey League weekend Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 shootout win over the Eagles in Surrey.
Vernon beat Victoria 5-2 Friday and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Cowichan Valley Capitals in Duncan Saturday to improve to 4-1-1-0 in the first six games of the trip.
Dawson Holt was the only shooter to score in the shootout, beating Eagles goalie Thomas Scarfone in the third round to give Vernon two points. Scarfone made 33 saves in regulation time.
Reilly Herbst stopped 25 shots in regulation time and denied Surrey shooters Wyatt Schlaht, Cristophe Tellier and Holden Katzalay in the shootout.
Tellier forced overtime with a goal 39 seconds into the third period. Defenceman Landon Fuller and forward Connor Marritt scored for Vernon, who held a pair of one-goal leads for the second straight contest.
The win vaulted the Snakes (12-7-1-0) into fourth place in the Interior Division, one point ahead of the Wenatchee Wild, and four points behind the third-place Trail Smoke Eaters.
READ MORE: Capitals use OT to beat Vernon Vipers
The Vipers get back on the bus for a doubleheader in Trail Friday and Saturday. Game 9 of the 11-game swing is a Wednesday night affair in Prince George, Nov. 13, against the Spruce Kings, a rematch of last year’s BCHL Fred Page Cup final (won by the Spruce Kings in four games).
Vernon will complete its marathon road session with games in Langley Friday, Nov. 15, and Coquitlam Saturday, Nov. 16, before returning home to face the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Friday, Nov. 22, on First Responders Night at Kal Tire Place.
SNAKE BITES: The Vipers acquired goalie James Porter from the Kelowna Rockets. Porter will join Herbst and the Vipers for the twinbill in Trail this weekend. Vernon goalie Max Palaga is still out with a lower body injury with no timetable for his return…Former Vipers captain Jagger Williamson broke his leg in two places in his pro hockey debut with the expansion Columbus (Georgia) River Dragons of the 10-team Federal Hockey league. Williamson was injured midway through the third period of the club’s season opener, a 5-2 win over fellow expansion team Delaware Thunder, when he fell awkwardly while taking a hit. The Lumby native will be out indefinitely.
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