Nick Remissong left his teammates singing a happy tune Saturday night.
The Vernon Vipers forward, the seventh shooter in the shootout, slipped the puck past Salmon Arm goalie Owen Say to give the Snakes a 3-2 B.C. Hockey League pod play win over the Gorillas at Vernon’s Kal Tire Place April 17.
Vernon is now 5-3-1-0 in the 20-game season. The Silverbacks are 4-2-2-1. West Kelowna Warriors, who edged Vernon 3-2 Friday, are 4-3-1. West Kelowna and Salmon Arm play Sunday evening.
The first period saw a 10-minute delay after Salmon Arm’s Cameron Recchi broke a pane of glass in front of the penalty box after finishing a check. After the break, the Silverbacks opened the scoring on a goal by Sullivan Mack, only to see the Vipers tie the game on a Ryan Shostak deflection of a Trey Taylor shot.
After a scoreless second period, the Vipers took a 2-1 lead early in the third on a Seth Bafaro slapshot. The lead lasted four minutes as Noah Serdachny tied the game for Salmon Arm, tipping in a Simon Tassy pass.
In overtime, there were lots of great chances and both Roan Clarke of the Vipers and Say were stellar. A combined 11 shots were taken, but no goals, and the game required a shootout.
The goalies were locked in during the shootout as Say and Clarke both stopped the first three shooters they faced. Tyler Carpendale scored, but Tassy kept the game going with a goal. It wasn’t until Remissong slipped a shot home that the Vipers had the lead and the victory thanks to a big save from Clarke on Drew Bennett.
Clarke finished with 33 saves for Vernon while Say made 29 stops for Salmon Arm.
The Vipers are next in action on Monday night when they play the Warriors.
READ MORE: West Kelowna goaltender stymies Vernon Vipers for 3-2 win
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Vernon Vipers goalie Roan Clarke celebrates his team’s 3-2 B.C. Hockey League pod play shootout win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Saturday, April 17, at Kal Tire Place. (Lisa Mazurek - Vernon Vipers Photography)
