Clark returns to haunt sloppy Vipers
11:43pm Saturday 6th September 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Elite League: Mincoffs Newcastle Vipers 2-3 Nottingham Panthers
A LATE goal by former Newcastle favourite David Clarke sank the Vipers on a night when determination was not enough to get the Tynesiders off to a winning start in the Elite League.
While the home side showed a lot of grit and contained some high quality players, the loose passes and sloppy play showed that it may take time for head coach Rob Wilson’s men to gel into the team they have the potential to become.
Notably, the Vipers powerplay misfired through to the 52nd minute when they finally took advantage of two extra men to pull level for the second time in the game. The game had only been 26 seconds old when they were given the first opportunity to overpower the Panthers, but failed to get a shot on goal during the two minute advantage.
As the opening period became fractious, it became increasingly clear that the sin bins would be as busy as Central Station at rush hour, and it was Dean Holland and Nottingham’s Joe Graham who were the first to ignite, the young Viper easily coming off better than his opponent.
This led to congestion in the Vipers’ penalty box as Chris McAllister, with 2+10 for checking from behind; Rob Wilson, with two minutes for holding the stick; and Burt Henderson, two minutes for hooking; followed Holland into the cooler.
It was this string of penalties that gave Nottingham their opener as Kevin Bergin netted on the powerplay at 14.52 to finish a good move around the net. With the visitors out-shooting the Vipers 22-4 in the opening period, it was something of a testament to netminder Andrew Verner’s skills that this was the only goal of the first period.
Before the break, however, there was another flurry of penalty box activity as Andre Payette dropped the gloves, only to be dropped himself by Rumun Ndur.
The Vipers did nearly grab an equaliser in the final minutes of the period, when debutante Warren Tait linked up with captain David Longstaff, but it wasn’t to be.
The second period carried on in the same manner as the first: scrappy and with Verner continuing to keep the Vipers in the game.
More penalties came in the 27th minute when a Chris McAllister cross-check sparked two simultaneous fights. While Derek Campbell pummelled Nick Toneys, the fisticuffs between Todd Griffith and Brendan Cook fizzled out.
Tait marked his Vipers debut with a goal after the Panthers hit the post when it would have been easier to score and Ben Campbell set the former Devil and Steeler away for the equaliser on 30.06.
A key point in the game came in the very early going in the final period when the Vipers missed two clear-cut opportunities to go ahead. Marek Ivan missed the chance to get a debut goal when he fluffed his shot, but when the puck came to Longstaff in front of an empty net, he somehow managed to put it over the bar.
Vipers were almost instantly punished when Matthew Myers capitalised on some poor defending and netted when Robert Lachowicz’s shot came back from behind the goal and caught Verner out of position for 1-2 at 44.24.
Another string of penalties eventually found the Vipers on the powerplay and it was through this advantage that they pulled level again at 51.40.
Derek Campbell picked up the puck wide on the right and cut in, tic-tac-toed around the final defenceman and tucked the puck away past Davis Parley between the Panthers’ pipes.
Molin and Griffith were both denied chances to put their sides ahead, but it wasn’t until 55.14 that the winner came. With McAllister again neutralised in the sin bin, Molin’s shot from the blue line came back off Verner and allowed Clarke to grab the winner.