What a shame only 608 made it to the game on Thursday night.
The Vernon vs Kings makeup game was certainly worth waiting for and of course, the final score was very gratifying to the Kings.
You could tell the Kings were in this one from the get-go, aggressive forecheck and winning a lot of battles. Shots in the first period were 13-8 in favour of the Kings.
Despite winning the first period, the Kings fell behind when the Vipers scored on the powerplay.
Cory Kane kicked it out to Adam Thompson in the slot and he one timed the game's first goal by Josh Watson at 4:48.
Kings came storming back and got a little lucky at 15:12 when Andrew Pettitt drilled the puck high on Voth in the Viper net. The shot and Voth's momentum carried the puck over him and it tumbled into the net to tie 1-1.
Second period produced no goals but a lot of chances and some great goaltender from starters Watson and Voth. Voth had to be sharp when Bodie made an end to end rush, beat both D-men and from his knees got a pretty good shot away that was saved.
Vernon had the man advantage to start the third and were working on the pp when Ben Schmidt stole the puck and as he raced down the ice on the lone Viper defender, was joined by Mat Bodie.
Schmidt, didn't just drop the pass to Bodie but whipped a perfect behind the back pass to Mat who took a look and drifted it high into the net past Voth.
608 fans sounded like 6,008 as they stood and cheered the shorthanded goal from the Kings.
Vernon got their greasy goal on a similar play to the one earlier by Pettitt.
Rob Short took a hard shot that hit Watson high and it popped up and over his shoulder and ended up in the net to tie the game 2-2.
Both teams seemed to be mindful of the single point and perhaps the big highlight up to the end of the game was the wicked check by Reid Campbell on Kelllen Jones.
Jones took his eye off Campbell after he threw a pass over to a teammate and Campbell belted him against the glass and dropped the slick twin to the ice.
That's the way it ended and with the defensive effort during the regulation this was probably over sooner than everybody thought.
Niddery got a hold of the puck deep in Vernon's end and spotted Garbowsky alone in front of the net. Garbowsky slammed the perfect pass into the net at 0:54 and the Kings poured onto the ice to celebrate the 3-2 victory.
Both of these teams played their hearts out tonight as the game was equally important to both.
Vernon can't seem to shake the Vees and it's looking like every single point is going to count heading down the stretch. After 52 games they have a slim two point lead over the Vees.
Kings and Grizzlies (over Quesnel 4-3) both won in overtime tonight so the Kings maintain their three point lead with seven games to go.
Kings have back to back games with the Burnaby Express who have been playing very well lately with Rota on the rudder. No pushovers here and the Kings will have to go for the throat this weekend. Game time is 7:30 P.M. on Saturday night.
Armitage Mens Wear Three Stars:
1. Mat Bodie
2. Matt Garbowsky
3. Blake Voth
