Pierce Diamond made 28 saves and Olivier Gauthier scored two goals as the Cowichan Valley Capitals defeated the visiting Vernon Vipers 4-1 at the Cowichan Arena on Saturday evening.
Gauthier opened the scoring midway through the first period and added the Caps’ third goal early in the second. Also scoring for the Caps were Preston Brodziak — whose eventual game-winner came just 46 seconds after Gauthier’s first goal — and Cole Broadhurst. Vernon’s lone marker of the night came 74 seconds into the third period.
Both goalies faced 29 shots on the night, but Diamond outshone Vipers netminder Aidan Porter, who made 25 stops.
Assistant coach Dan Whiteford took over behind the bench for head coach Mike Vandekamp, who was sitting out the second game of his three-game suspension.
Next up for the Caps is a home-and-home series with the Nanaimo Clippers. The teams clash at the Frank Crane Arena next Friday night, then meet again at the Cowichan Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m.
