The Vernon Vipers saved their best for last against the Wenatchee Wild in BC Hockey League action Friday night.
The Vipers out-shot the Wild 17-5 and outscored them 3-0 in the final period of the game at Wenatchee’s Town Toyota Centre, en route to a 4-2 win.
Seiya Tanaka-Campbell got the scoring started 16 minutes into the first period on a goal assisted by Walker Erickson and Jonathan Horn.
The Wild captured the momentum in the second period where they out-shot the Vipers 18-8 and outscored them 2-0. Garrett Szydlowski had both goals for the Wild, the first on the powerplay assisted by Ean Somoza and David Hejduk, and the second at even strength assisted by Micah Berger and Cade Littler.
In the third, the Vipers took the momentum back, evening the score at two goals apiece when Reagan Milburn found the back of the net, assisted by Max Borovinskiy and Erik Pastro. Less than two minutes later, Ethan Sundar gave the Vipers their second lead of the game on a goal assisted by Lee Parks and Dylan Compton.
The Vipers killed off four of five penalties on the night and the last one was crucial, a cross-checking penalty to Anthony Cliche with under four minutes to play in a one-goal game.
With his second goal of the night, Tanaka-Campbell sealed the game into the empty Wild net with just over one minute to play.
Vipers goalie Roan Clarke was impressive on the night, stopping 32 of 34 shots he faced for his 10th win of the season.
With the win, the Vipers avoided being leapfrogged in the standings by the Wild. With a 17-16-0-4 record, they sit in sixth place in the Interior division, three points ahead of the Wild and one point behind the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The two teams will play each other again tonight (Jan. 28) at 6:05 p.m. at the Town Toyota Centre.
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