KENSINGTON – The Kensington Moase Plumbing and Heating Vipers have started the 2018-19 season the way they hope to finish it.
On a winning note.
The Vipers, who are hosting the Don Johnson Memorial Cup Atlantic junior B hockey championship in late April, edged arch-rival Arsenault’s Fish Mart Western Red Wings in the opening game of the Island Junior Hockey League regular season at Credit Union Centre on Sunday night.
All of the scoring took place in the opening period as Keegan Buchanan’s goal at 13:27 broke a 1-1 tie, and stood up as the game-winner. Recently-acquired Jonathan Arsenault opened the scoring for the Vipers at 7:31, but it was a short-lived lead as Spencer Groom set up Connor Morrissey for the game-tying goal 30 seconds later.
Rookie Nick Trainor (2), a product of the Mid-Isle Matrix, Arsenault and Parker Ronahan contributed assists for Kensington.
It looked like the Abram-Village-based Red Wings had tied the game late in the third period, but it was immediately ruled the puck was kicked into the net. The Vipers, who sacrificed their bodies to block a number of shots, also received a key defensive play with under a minute remaining in the third period from hustling sophomore forward CJ McCardle, who dove to clear the puck away from a Red Wing and out of the defensive zone for the final time.
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Goaltending
Rookie Caleb Coyle, who played the last two seasons with the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild major midget team, earned the goaltending win in his Vipers’ regular-season debut. Coyle preserved the one-goal lead by stopping all 14 shots he faced in the third period as the Red Wings pressed for the equalizer, including a couple of point-blank opportunities in the last 10 minutes. Overall, Coyle turned aside 28 of 29 shots.
Bronson Banks also had a strong game between the pipes for the Red Wings as he blocked 30 of 32 shots. His busiest period was the first, when the Vipers stormed out of the gates and outshot the Red Wings 16-6.
After a penalty-free first period, the Vipers were assessed four minors over the final two periods while the Red Wings picked up three minors.
League action resumes on Wednesday night as the Souris-based Eastern Maniacs travel to the Cody Banks Arena in Charlottetown to take on the Sherwood-Parkdale A&S Scrap Metal Metros at 8 p.m.