Vipers grab second place after opening double

VIPERS completed a four-point weekend with a convincing 4-2 home win over the Nottingham Panthers on Sunday night.

Going into the second game in two nights, Vipers were without defenceman Peter Kratky and forward Derek Campbell.

While Campbell's penalty from the previous night kept the first-liner out of action at the Metro Radio Arena for one night only, Kratky's broken hand will be assessed on Tuesday.

With the puck barely dropped, Andre Payette let Ryan Shmyr know that the home side were not to be pushed around, his gloves hitting the ice five seconds in. An unconvincing battle, but Shmyr had got the message.

On the playing side, it was alternate captain Jeff Hutchins who stamped his authority on the early play. Panthers had killed the first of two penalties, but still a man down they could not stop a strong power play and Hutchins beat Rastislav Rovnianek low at the glove hand for 1-0 on 6.23, with assists from Ben Storey and Payette.

Further penalties for either side were killed before the equaliser, Danny Meyers with a speculative shot from the far side of the face-off circle, straight from the drop, beating Ryan MacDonald on 10.47.

Strong penalty kills for the Vipers held the score level through two Hutchins penalties, and again the power play was strong when Steve Pelletier went to the bin for interference.

A great passing move kept the puck in the Panthers zone and it was eventually played to Mark Gouett and the defenceman calmly controlled in front of goal and picked his spot for 2-1 at 19.33, again Payette with the set-up and a further assist to captain David Longstaff.

A string of penalties started the second period, including a total of 14 minutes for Shmyr, but it was the Panthers who netted next, the equaliser coming through Sean McAslan whose scuffed shot somehow slid through MacDonald's legs on 26.46.

The game-winning goal came half way through the game as the Vipers' strength kicked in and, despite making a great stop from Longstaff, Rovnianek couldn't stop the puck dropping to Colin Shields for 3-2 on 30.23, with Gouett grabbing the second assist.

Less than three minutes later, Sergiy Rublivsky made it four on another power play, following up Pavel Gomenuk's saved effort on 36 minutes.

A fast, end-to-end third period failed to see the Panthers break down the Vipers defence, or the home side extend the lead, but the weakened Tynesiders had done the business against the heavily-fancied Midlanders.

Saturday's season opener on Humberside was a tight affair and, despite the Vipers conceding a last minute goal, they collected a road win - only after a penalty shootout that took until the 11th round of shots to produce a winner.

The game was chippy throughout and it was no surprise that special teams proved important factors. With a two-man advantage, Longstaff opened the scoring for Vipers at 5.43 but, on the same Vipers powerplay, Stingrays battled back and levelled thanks to a shorthanded counter by Brad Patterson at 7.20.

The home side then missed out on a succession of powerplay opportunities as the teams went into the first break tied.

Vipers again struck early in the second period with another powerplay goal, Andre Payette firing home at 21.40, and that proved the only goal of the period, but not the action, as penalty calls continued culminating in an altercation at 38.53 that saw four players binned - with Vipers coming off worse as Derek Campbell was ejected on a fighting match penalty and Jeff Hutchins a 10 minute misconduct.

Vipers continued to hold the lead in the third period and looked the more likely to add to their score but were shocked on the powerplay with only seven seconds remaining as Cole Byers struck for the home side to force overtime.

No goals in the extra five minutes and into penalty shots. Rublivsky and Stingrays Jeff Glowa both scored in the 6th round of shots but the winner came in round 11 from the stick of Colin Shields, giving Vipers the valuable extra point.