The shot clock at the end of Friday night’s game at Kal Tire Place read 44-23 for the Vernon Vipers over the West Kelowna Warriors.
But the final score was 3-2 the other way.
Warriors netminder Johnny Derrick stopped all but two of the 44 pucks the Vipers sent his way in BC Hockey League Pod Season action April 16, lifting his team to a bounce-back win.
The Warriors won the game offensively in the first 14 minutes of the first period. Damon Jugnauth scored just 39 seconds after the puck-drop and Riley Sharun added another to make it 2-0, a few minutes before Tyler Cristall scored to complete the early offensive outburst.
The second period saw a momentum swing. The Vipers came out of a five-minute powerplay with two goals, after a major penalty and game misconduct was assessed to 21-year-old Benjamin Woodhouse.
The goals from Nick Kent and Tyler Carpendale weren’t enough for a complete comeback, as both the second and third periods ended with a 3-2 Warriors lead.
Despite being heavily out-shot it was a welcome bounce-back game for the Warriors, especially between the pipes, after they were beaten 6-4 by the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Thursday. The Warriors improved to a 4-3-1 record on the season, while the Vipers fell to the same record, but now trail the Warriors in the standings due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Both teams trail the Silverbacks in the three-team Vernon pod.
The Vipers are minutes away from puck-drop against the Silverbacks Saturday (April 17) at the time of publishing.
The Warriors will play the ‘Backs on Sunday at 6 p.m.
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