The Trail Smoke Eaters showed on Friday night that they could hang with the defending RBC Cup champions, doubling the previous season high for goals by an opponent at the Wesbild Centre before ultimately falling 8-4 after a flurry of third period goals. One night later, the Vernon Vipers made their point quickly that another close game was not in the cards and cruised to a 7-1 victory.
First period goals from Cole Ikkala, Connor Jones and Bryce Kakoske had the Vipers ahead by three before the game was 12 minutes old. Mike Collins scored on an early second period power play to extend the lead to four before Jones struck for two more to complete the hat trick.
Down 6-0 in the third period, the Smoke Eaters received their lone goals from paul Mailey, who beat Vernon netminder Blake Voth off a feed from Scott Jacklin. Cory Kane then capped the scoring for the Vipers.
Connor Jones finished the night with four points, while Kellen Jones assisted on all three of his brother's markers. Kane also picked up three points on the night. Voth turned aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced to keep his season record perfect at 6-0.
The Vipers, who are now riding a 17-game winning streak, now embark on a four-game Coastal road trip that begins in Powell River on Wednesday. Trail, meanwhile, begins a road swing of their own on Thursday in Prince George.
