Wenatchee Wild winger Dakota Raabe takes a swing at a loose puck with Steven Jandric of the Vipers deflecting the shot in front of goalie Cole Demers in BCHL Bauer Showcase action Saturday night at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.

Wenatchee Wild winger Dakota Raabe takes a swing at a loose puck with Steven Jandric of the Vipers deflecting the shot in front of goalie Cole Demers in BCHL Bauer Showcase action Saturday night at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.

Wenatchee goes Wild on Vernon Vipers

Mark Ferner figured the Wenatchee Wild would give his club a true and tough test in the fifth B.C. Hockey League Bauer Showcase

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.

 

Vernon Morning Star