Vipers win feisty affair to take series lead over Colts
The Red Deer Vipers routed the Mountainview Colts 7-1 in a wild game Wednesday night that saw 185 penalty minutes dished out in the third period alone.
Red Deer solved Colts star goalie Thomas Della-Siega just 2:56 into the game as Declan Johnston capitalized on a great 2-on-1 feed from rookie Jacksyn Goodall, giving Red Deer a 1-0 lead.
The Vipers offence exploded in the second period. Lane Sim scored 1:51 into the frame to put the Vipers up 2-0. Mack Differenz scored a few minutes later just as a Colt was stepping out of the penalty box. Mountainview cut the Viper lead to 3-1 when Wyatt Gelinas scored a power play goal at 9:56. But while that goal was still being announced, Austin Thorne put Red Deer back up by three at 10:06. Logan Linnell would wait all of 35 seconds before extending the Viper lead to 5-1.
The Vipers weren’t done yet as rookie forward Cooper Willms tallied at 15:06 of the third period to make it a 6-1 game. The next goal set off a final five minutes of regulation that took an eternity to play. Vipers defenceman Damien Chopek scored his first goal of the 2017-18 campaign at 17:05 of the third period. A scrum ensued after the goal in which five players earned 10-minute misconducts, thus ending their nights.