TWO-goal Todd Jackson made a storming return to the action after a long injury lay off. The Vipers No 13 was certainly unlucky for the Stingrays as he scored either side of the second break. Jackson’s first came on 38 minutes and was the result of a deliberate attempt to play the puck off the Stingrays’ grounded goalie Ladislav Kudrna to make it 2-1 to the Vipers. Forty seconds into the final period Jackson successfully redirected Sergiy Rublivsky’s centering pass from the right wing into the top of the net. With 10 seconds of the game remaining a snapshot by Jeff Glowa gave the visitors hope of getting something out of the game. Immediately coach Rick Strachan called it time out and when his team lined up for the face-off it was six skaters strong. But the decision to withdraw Kudrna failed as Vipers’ captain David Longstaff hit an empty net goal timed at 59:59 to make it 4-2. The Vipers took to the ice with defence man Jeremy Lundin switched from defence to attack so as to roll three offensive lines at the second from bottom side. But even with Jackson back in action and the three line offensive threat, the Vipers were out-shot 11-5 by the Stingrays during the first period. Most of the shots had rained in on Vipers netminder Ryan MacDonald during three Stingrays powerplays. The first occurred after winger Andre Payette had battered Cole Byers by the boards on 10 minutes. As a result Payette, who had given Brett Clouthier a good hiding in Thursday’s home loss against the Manchester Phoenix, had to sit out 17 minutes of play for punishment. Playing with a dodgy knee Payette had to be helped off the ice and played no further part in the game. The Vipers returned to two-line hockey with Lundin back on blue line duties after which Richie Thornton had to leave the ice early in the second period to received medical treatment. Early indications are that Thornton will be missing for some time. As Thornton was being helped back to the dressing room he would have been cheered by the sound of the Vipers fans celebrating a 24th-minute go-ahead goal. Top points scorer Derek Campbell added another assist to his total when he set up the unmarked Sergiy Rublivsky for the easy of tap-ins from a central position. But the Vipers’ advantage lasted just over two minutes. Jake Riddle, who had angered the home fans with his assault on Thornton, was unmarked as he burst in to one-time the puck past MacDonald. VIPERS: Jackson 2+0; Rublivsky 1+2; Longstaff 1+0, Gomenyuk 0+2; D Campbell, Gouett, Johnson and Storey 0+1. STINGRAYS: Glowa and Riddle 1+0; Koulikov 0+2; Ladygin and Mitchell 0+1. | 
