VIPERS DOUBLED UP BY THUNDER IN GAME SIX

VIPERS DOUBLED UP BY THUNDER IN GAME SIX

Red Deer loses 4-2 to Airdrie in Game Six to force deciding Game Seven.

 

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

 

Red Deer, AB – On a Wednesday evening at the Red Deer Arena, the Red Deer Vipers hosted the Airdrie Thunder in Game Six of their best-of-seven Heritage Junior Hockey League North Division Semi-Final. With the Vipers leading the series 3-2, they started Cole Sears in net, while the Thunder countered with Kade Taplin.

 

The opening half of the first period saw the teams go end-to-end with several scoring opportunities highlighted by a partial breakaway from the Vipers’ Kale Lapointe who found his backhand turned aside by Taplin. Despite being outshot, Airdrie tallied the game’s first goal as Dylan Mccuaig buried a rebound of the back boards for the 1-0 lead. The Thunder’s 1-0 advantage would hold for the remainder of the opening period.

 

The Vipers continued to control a majority of the play for the opening half of the second period, but it would be Airdrie who struck for their second just after the 10 minute mark. On the man advantage, Clay Murray corralled a puck in the slot and roofed one over Sears to stretch the Thunder lead to two. Airdrie then added another tally in the last minute of the period as Mark Kunitz fired a shot over the right shoulder of Sears from the right faceoff circle to make it a three goal game. After 40 minutes, the Thunder led 3-0.

 

Airdrie saw an opportunity early in the third period to put the game away as Murray broke in alone on Sears, but the Vipers’ netminder flashed the pad to turn away the Thunder sniper. The save proved crucial as the home side found their first goal of the night minutes later. In front of the Airdrie net, Spencer Yeats battled for a loose puck before sliding it past Taplin to make it 3-1. Red Deer continued to press and with two minutes left in the game made it a one goal game as Jonathan Finnigan unloaded a point shot on the powerplay that was deflected past Taplin by Tye Munro to make it 3-2. Seconds later then with goaltender pulled, Vipers’ forward Drew Joslin fired a shot that hit the post and deflected out of the zone to the stick of Airdrie’s Parker Georgsen who fired home the empty net marker. Thunder 4 Vipers 2.

 

Red Deer outshot Airdrie 38-32. The North Division best-of-seven series is now tied 3-3.

 

Game Seven will take place Friday, February 26^th in Airdrie. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM.

 

The Red Deer Vipers are proud to host the 2016 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships taking place March 31^st – April 3^rd, 2016. Head over to the Vipers website at www.reddeervipers.com for more information.