The Vernon Vipers and Powell River Kings are living up to their reputations as defensive stalwarts but, more importantly for the Vipers, they're living up to their reputation as a team that knows how to win in crunch time.
The Snakes claimed their second straight road win with a 1-0 victory Saturday over the Powell River Kings to take a 2-0 series lead in the Fred Page Cup finals.
The teams matched each other stride for stride through the first two periods as it was scoreless after 40 minutes. Both teams had the same shot totals in the first and second periods, each firing 7 and 11 shots respectively in those frames.
It was still a scoreless draw getting into the late stages of the third and, after the Kings had been applying some pressure, Vernon's David Robinson snuck in behind coverage and snapped a shot past Michael Garteig to net the only goal the game would see.
Powell River pulled Garteig for the extra attacker with around two minutes left and the Kings maintained possession in the Vernon end as the seconds ticked down but they couldn't beat Kirby Halcrow, who was the 1st Star for the second night in a row.
Both teams' penalty killing units remain flawless through two games with Powell River going 0-3 and Vernon 0-4 with the man advantage on Saturday night.
Halcrow has now stopped 44 of 45 shots he's faced in the series.
Game 3 of the league finals is scheduled for Monday night at Wesbild Centre in Vernon with a 7 p.m. puckdrop.
