Less than 24 hours after suffering a demoralizing triple overtime loss on home ice, the Vernon Vipers bounced back with a series-ending 4-1 victory in Penticton that propelled the Interior's top seed back into the Fred Page Cup Finals for a second consecutive season.
The Vees went ahead early when Eric Filiou opened the scoring at the 4:05 mark of the first period, but Vernon replied just over a minute later off the stick of Dan Nycholat and never trailed again. Braden Pimm put the visitors ahead late in the frame, and a pair of second period markers from Adam Thompson and Kellen Jones gave the Vipers all the offence they would need for the victory.
The defending National Champions shut down Penticton's scorers for the remainder of the game while conceding just one power-play opportunity during the second and third periods. But that was just part of the special teams battle, as the Vipers scored three times on their four opportunities with the man advantage.
Vernon netminder Graeme Gordon was named the game's First Star following a 29-save performance that included 12 shots in the third period. Pimm and Nycholat posted matching one-goal, one-assist efforts, while Mike Collins set up three goals en route to the win.
The Vipers now advance to face the Powell River Kings in the Fred Page Cup Finals for the second time in as many years. The series is tentatively set to begin Friday, but a full schedule will be released on Sunday evening.
