The Penticton Vees are on the brink of elimination following a 5-0 home loss to the Vernon Vipers in Game 4 of the Interior Conference Final. While the Vees season is not over, they will have to beat the Vernon Vipers three games in a row to survive the Conference Final and earn a trip to the BCHL Fred Page Cup. The Vernon Vipers submitted a solid road effort on Wednesday night in front of 2,171 fans at the SOEC, playing stout defensive hockey and capitalizing on special teams to earn their third win of the best-of-seven series. Graeme Gordon posted his second shutout of the series stopping all 21 shots and in the process handed the Vees their first home loss of the playoffs. In the first frame of the game, the lone goal was scored by Bryce Kakoske; his first of the playoffs saw him finished up a great play by Jonathan Milhouse – who created a two-on-one with a deceptive move at the Penticton blue-line. Early in the second period Kakoske (a Vernon product) did it again, this time tipping in a Milhouse shot on the power play. Mid-way through the second stanza the Vipers struck on the power play for the second time with Adam Thompson blasting home a point shot for his second of the post-season. The Vipers lead 3-0 after forty minutes. In the third the Vipers got a short-handed goal ? their second of the series ? when Mike Collins drove down the left wing and beat Sean Bonar on the back-hand after cutting around a defender to the net. It was Collins? second goal of the post-season and put the visitors up by a pair, much to the delight of the hundreds of Vipers fans that made the trip South to Penticton, to watch Game 4. In the final moments Cole Ikkala batted a rebound out of mid-air to put the visitors up 5-0. The Vipers ended up 3/7 on the man advantage and a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill with a short-handed goal to boot. Sean Bonar suffered the loss, allowing five goals on the 28 shots directed at the Vees net. Graeme Gordon now has recorded six of the seven Vernon wins in the post-season with four standing as shutouts. Bruins draft pick Ben Sexton remains out of the line-up for the Vees, and hasn?t yet hit the ice against the Vipers. Sexton?s status is doubtful for a return to action this series, as he recovers from injury. Game 5 in Vernon runs Friday at 7PM from the Wesbild Centre.
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