Vipers win North Final series opener over Airdrie
It wasn’t pretty most of the night, but in the end the Red Deer Vipers were 6-4 winners over the Airdrie Thunder in game one of the best-of-seven HJHL North Final.
Twenty-year-old veteran Declan Johnston opened the scoring 3:45 into the game, beating Ryan Simpson on a partial breakaway off an Airdrie turnover. Mack Differenz made it 2-0 Vipers minutes later on a Red Deer power play.
The Thunder caught a fortuitous break at 6:50 as rearguard Jack MacCready’s point shot deflected off Red Deer defencemen Dalton Angeltvedt and past Brandon Bilodeau to cut the lead to 2-1. Johnston would find twine again, however Ben Shushkovsy also added a shorthanded tally for good measure to make it 4-1 Red Deer after one period.
The Vipers were badly outplayed in the second period, getting out shot 20-10. Bilodeau was able to hold the fort making several big saves. Zach Giroux found the net twice for the Thunder to bring the visitors within a single goal headed into the 3rd period.