Chilliwack, BC: It wasn't exactly how you'd draw up a victory, but the Vipers rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three 3rd period goals to knock off the Langley Rivermen 3-2 on Thursday morning at the BCHL Showcase.
Langley got on the board first on a Vipers delayed penalty, Vitaly Levyy snapped a shot from the bottom of the right circle over the shoulder of Ethan David make it 1-0. The Rivermen played a tight checking period slowing up the Vipers through the neutral zone and keeping them to the outside. At times, the Vipers had trouble with the forecheck and it led to Langley's second goal as Hayden Gelbard backhanded a puck over the shoulder of David and it was 2-0 after 1 period.
Despite an early flurry of chances the Vipers ended up spending a good chunk of the period in their own zone. Ethan David turned aside all 16 Langley shots his way.
In the 3rd the Vipers found their legs and started the climb back into the hockey game. It came from a good forecheck as a cross ice pass from Luke Lavery was blocked and came right back to him in the circle and he wired it past Ajeet Gundarah to cut the deficit in half. Until this point Langley had played a pretty stingy brand of defense without many mistakes. Some indecision changed that as Hank Cleaves was able to pounce on a puck in the slot to make it 2-2. The Vipers took their first lead of the day a few minutes later after a nice entry into the zone and a cross ice pass from Isaac Tremblay to Ethan Merner who went post and in for his second of the season making it 3-2. From the Vipers didn't allow many chances. They'd hold Langley to just 4 shots in the third period as the final horn sounded.
The Vipers are back in action Saturday night against Prince George at Kal Tire Place.
