The 2011 Doyle Cup is all square between the Vernon Vipers and Spruce Grove Saints after the Alberta visitors scored a 3-2 win Saturday night.
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It looked like there might be another scoreless first period but Vernon opened the scoring on the power play at 17:34 of the first on a long shot from outside the blueline by Malcolm Lyles that eluded Saints goalie Vince Marozzi. The Vipers almost made it 2-0 in the dying seconds of the period when David Robinson broke in with a backhand deke that went off the iron.
The Saints were a determined team to start the second period and, after being outshot 14-6 in the opening frame, put lots of rubber on Vipers goalie Kirby Halcrow to start the second. Just 46 seconds into the period, Nicholas Bourgeois scored to tie the game 1-1 on a nifty move off a faceoff win in the Vernon zone.
The Alberta visitors went ahead at the 10:25 mark of the middle frame when Brett Switzer swept a rebound into the top right corner after a David Glen point shot on the power play.
Vernon had to play the last half of the game without faceoff expert Kyle Murphy who left with an undisclosed injury. The Snakes had a power play opportunity at the end of the second that carried over into the third but couldn’t convert despite some decent pressure in the Saints end as the second period closed out.
Emotions surfaced as the horn went to end the second as well with Vernon storming the crease and Saints defenders taking exception.
Spruce Grove had to be confident going into the third with a 2-1 lead as they were 45-0-0-2 this season when leading after 40 minutes. They increased their lead to 3-1 when Scott Allen corralled a turnover at the Vipers blueline and moved to the high slot before wristing a shot past Halcrow to the glove side with just under five minutes left.
But Vernon wasn't quite finished. Less than a minute after Allen's insurance marker, a Patrick McGillis shot found the back of the net after deflecting off a body.
Each team spent its timeout with Vernon calling theirs with 1:16 to go. Even without Murphy, Vernon was able to win a number of important draws late but couldn't convert.
With the teams splitting the first two games, Game 3 will be in Vernon on Sunday night at 7 p.m.
QUOTES
Saints coach Jason Mckee:
On Marozzi's performance after a shaky first goal against:
“He always evens it out and then some. I think that one goal that goes in, there's probably two or three maybe that any other night that might have gone in and I thought he made up for that in a big way there especially in the third in the last few minutes there. We were under siege and he held the fort for us.”
On having all players on board for a better team effort:
“We needed a commitment from everyone, not to me but to teammates. I think that was the biggest thing; they committed to each other and they played Saints hockey tonight. We're not flashy, we don't run and gun, we rarely score six goals but we do our best in our own end and score by committee.”
Vipers coach Mark Ferner:
On his team's lull in the second period:
“I thought our first period was fine (but) momentum is a funny thing. They got momentum and they kept it. I really truly believe that it's how you respond when bad things happen. In the second period, I don't think we responded in a positive way and we turned too many pucks over in the neutral zone and we didn't get pucks deep. That's a good hockey team over there, give them credit; we got some good looks at the end but we know we have to play 60 minutes to be successful.
On losing Kyle Murphy in the second period:
“Here’s a guy that is very good on faceoffs and he competes his butt off and when you lose a guy like that it’s going to hurt so we had to make some adjustments with our lines. He should be fine by tomorrow (Sunday), its just one of those things, you get your bumps and bruises but we certainly did miss him in the way he plays but also in the room.”
