Morning Star Staff
Vernon Viper head coach Mark Ferner figured the Wenatchee Wild would give his club a true and tough test in the fifth B.C. Hockey League Bauer Showcase in Chilliwack.
Ferner was bang on as the Wild – the only team in the BCHL without a regulation loss – brushed back the Snakes 6-3 Saturday night at Prospera Centre.
Vernon (4-2) got into penalty trouble and killed seven of nine Wenatchee powerplays.
The Wild scored on the first shot and shift of the game as Colin Burston redirected a shot home at 35 seconds.
The Vipers then took five straight penaltes, but the the speedy and ultra-talented Wild could only muster one goal on the powerplay as Matt Baker finished off a nice passing play with Brendan Harris and Charlie Combs to give Wenatchee a 2-0 lead at 12:46. Viper goalie Cole Demers was outstanding in the period, stopping 12 shots.
Wenatchee took an early penalty in the second and Steven Jandric poked in a loose puck for his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1. D-man Carter Stephenson and Niko Karamanis earned assists.
The Wild converted shortly after a powerplay expired as Dakota Raabe knocked a puck out of mid-air to make it 3-1. Slava Demin took a seeing-eye wrister through a maze of bodies to give Wenatchee a 4-1 lead with the man advantage. Troy Conzo and Alex Bates drew helpers.
The Vipers cut the deficit to 4-3 thanks to a power play goal from Christian Cakebread at 10:59 on a power play, and Shane Kelly whipped a seeing-eye shot from the right wing boards at 14:54 that eluded Wild goalie Anthony Yamnitsky, and suddenly despite a dominating performance, the Wild lead was trimmed to one. It was Kelly’s first BCHL snipe.
Stephenson and d-man Chris Jandric set upo Cakebread, while Karamanis and Jimmy Lambert pocketed helpers on Kelly’s tally.
The Wild responded just 17 seconds later with a dagger from Burston.
Austin Chavez fired a crisp head-man pass to Matthew Baker, who tossed a quick backhand dish to Dakota Raabe. Raabe, who has been on fire with a goal in four straight games, fired from the right wing and the rebound was collected and buried by Burston.
The Vipers called a timeout late in the period and pulled their Demers for a sixth attacker, but Charlie Combs sniffed the puck out and picked off a cross blue-line pass and raced down to deposit the puck in the abandoned net.
The Wild outshot Vernon 46-21, and Yamnitsky picked up his second win of the year. Demers was stellar with 40 saves. Vernon clicked twice on the power play.
Three stars were: 1. Burston. 2. Raabe. 3. Stephenson.
The Vipers begin a three-game road trip Friday night in Powell River. Puck drop is 7:15 on 107.5 KissFM. Vernon visits the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Saturday night and take on the Clippers in a Sunday matinee in Nanaimo.
Wenatchee (4-0-1) battles the Langley Rivermen (2-2-0-1) in their Friday home opener.
Harris leads all BCHL skaters with 12 points in five games.