Vipers can't hold top spot

ROB Wilson denounced his side's 7-1 reverse at home to Coventry as 'totally unacceptable' on Saturday night.

For the second weekend running, the Vipers hit the top of the Elite League, only to be beaten and lose top spot the following night.

Only this time, despite having beaten Belfast on Friday evening, Wilson had warned his players that a similar below par performance would not be sufficient to beat a Blaze side holding second spot.

And indeed, with Coventry taking their place at the top and Sheffield Steelers earning a win against Hull Stingrays, the Vipers found themselves having dropped to third by the close of Saturday's play.

On Friday night, the Vipers had left netminder Ryan MacDonald woefully exposed to a total of 45 shots, but the stopper managed to stop 44 of them, while two defencemen, Pavel Gomenyuk and Mark Gouett made amends by grabbing the goals to win the game.

However, MacDonald was not able to perform the same magic on Saturday, shipping six of the seven goals from 20 shots.

And while Wilson had called for passion from his players, it I almost certain his intention hadn't been to see his side notch 130 penalty minutes, to Coventry's 27.

Saturday's efforts started so well, with alternate captain Jeff Hutchins grabbing the opening goal on the powerplay at 4.39. Ben Storey's weak pass somehow slipped through the defence and Hutchins' shot took a wicked deflection over former Viper Trevor Koenig for 1-0.

The first rough stuff came less than a minute later, Andre Payette and Sylvain Cloutier going at it behind Koenig's net, earning the participants two minutes each.

But it was the man the Vipers love to hate - and who was to become an even bigger target for Tyneside passion as the game went on - Danny Stewart, who grabbed the equaliser at 11.57, after Colin Shields lost the puck in his own zone and the eventual shot went in off the inside of the post.

Vipers struggled throughout to clear their own zone and it wasn't long before the visitors were ahead.

Derek Campbell was sitting out the first two of his 34 penalty minutes for slashing when Dan Carlson floated the puck into the danger zone from the point and Adam Calder took one touch from just outside the crease to make it 1-2 at 17.16.

The game was fairly evenly balanced up until the Coventry third goal on 27.10. Blaze had just killed a Koenig interference penalty and the Vipers remained on the attack, but when that broke down, a sweeping move forward finished with Calder grabbing his second, assisted by former Newcastle captain, Jonathan Weaver.

Only 38 seconds later, it was Stewart's turn to net a second, wrapping around from behind to shoot high past MacDonald.

Cloutier made it 1-5 on 32.35, getting on the end of a Weaver pass through the slot for his first time shot.

It was during the second break that Wilson made his appeal for more passion and from the fifth minute it started to show on the penalty count.

Payette earned two minutes for roughing, followed shortly by captain Longstaff for checking as Derek Campbell received two minutes for delaying the game, as well as ten and a game for misconduct when he hurled a water bottle at Danny Stewart, who was also sitting out for delaying the game.

The misdirected passion was not reserved for the players only, though, and one fan was lucky not to be ejected from the arena when he approached the visitors' sin bin and made his feelings known in a prolonged haranguing of Stewart. Home mascot Vinnie the Viper decided to join in and was summarily dismissed from the penalty area by officials.

As the Blaze earned a bench penalty for delaying the game, Vipers defenceman Richie Thornton made his feelings known to referee Michael Hicks and received a ten minute misconduct.

Storey and home debutante Todd Jackson were both binned for slashing before the scoreline got even worse for the home team, Curtis Huppe's first time powerplay slapshot making it 1-6.

Vipers took MacDonald out of the firing line and game Richard Lawson the last six minutes between the pipes.

However, the action began again straight from the face-off as Payette launched himself directly at Stewart as the puck dropped. Stewart left the ice with a cut above his nose, while Payette received five minutes plus a match and was joined by Longstaff on a ten plus game misconduct call.

Dean Holland was the next Viper to see his game ended when he took on Carlson in the corner, each receiving two minutes for roughing and fice for fighting.

Lawson must have felt himself desperately unlucky to concede the one goal he did on the powerplay, as Calder completed his hat trick with a sweeping shot into the young goalie's body and the puck somehow found its way thought his body and across the line.

A string of minor penalties, three to the visitors, two to the home side, rounded up the stats at 58.37, but the most important was the dismal 1-7 scoreline, which will result in some very hard sessions for the Vipers this week, despite having out-shot the Blaze.

On Friday night, another poor performance led to a completely different result for the Vipers in Belfast. For their first time in seven league outings in the Irish capital, the Vipers recorded their first win on Irish soil, with Gouett hitting home the game winning goal with just over six minutes left in the game.

Despite numerous chances for both sides, the first period ended goalless.

The second period was heading the same way Pavel Gomenyuk broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal with 48 seconds of the period remaining.

The home side, who have got off to a terrible start in the league this season, got the game back on level terms at 49.47 with a goal from Scott Cameron. It looked as though the game was heading for overtime, but then up stepped Gouett to net at 53.42 to give the Vipers the two points and their first win in Belfast.