Vipers slip in game four, North Final tied 2-2 with Airdrie
It’s one the Red Deer Vipers can’t forget soon enough as they dropped a 7-4 road decision to the Airdrie Thunder, tying the HJHL North Final at two games apiece.
Jack MacCready opened the scoring for Airdrie 3:22 into the hockey game. Dante Raposo would add another before the first period was out.
The flood gates opened up for the Thunder in the second. Zach Giroux scored the first of three straight power play goals 58 seconds into the period. Raposo and Matt Thomson added the latter two. Thomson’s marker chased Vipers’ starting goalie Branden Bilodeau from the crease as Red Deer sought some kind of spark. Cole Sears, who came in cold, allowed Giroux to score on the first he faced to make it 6-0 Airdrie. Sears was near perfect after that.
The Vipers finally brought their A-game in the third period as Tristyn Zarubiak scored just two minutes into the frame to get Red Deer on the board.