Darion Hanson made 36 saves and Austin Adamson provided the decisive tally early in the third period as the Vernon Vipers earned a 3-2 road win over the Penticton Vees to claim the first game of the Interior finals.
Vernon led 2-1 after one with Steven Jandric opening the scoring and Cameron Trott restoring the lead on the man advantage after Gabe Bast had briefly tied the game for Penticton. In the second, Taylor Ward equalized for the Vees with an unassisted power-play goal at 5:46.
It remained even until 1:45 of the third when Adamson scored what would be the winner. Hanson turned aside all 16 shots he faced in the final frame and was named the games 1st Star. Game 2 goes Saturday in Penticton in a 6 p.m. start.
In Chilliwack, the Chiefs scored four in the first and never looked back on the way to a 7-2 win over the Victoria Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Coastal finals.
Jake Smith opened the scoring just inside the two-minute mark with Tommy Lee following shorthanded. Carver Watson and Will Calverley scored 2:43 apart to give the Chiefs all the offence they’d need.
Jamie Rome got the Grizzlies on the board just before the end of the first. Anthony Vincent had the only goal of the second, making it 5-1 Chiefs going to the third. In the final frame, Vincent scored again before TJ Friedmann got the second Grizz goal. Ben Fanjoy and Cody Van Lierop traded tallies after that.
Jordan Kawaguchi assisted on three of the Chiefs goals in the first and wound up with six helpers on the night to take 1st Star. Game 2 goes Saturday at 7 p.m. in Chilliwack.
