HJHL Roundup: Vipers begin title defence with win

The Red Deer Vipers began their quest for a second straight HJHL title with a victory, while the Cubs and Colts went toe-to-toe in Didsbury.

Medicine Hat (6) vs. Mountainview (5)

DIDSBURY – Bailey Taylor scored the winner with 22 seconds remaining in overtime to propel the Medicine Hat Cubs to a thrilling 6-4 victory over the Mountainview Colts.

Taylor finished with two goals and one assist on the night as he forced overtime with the lone goal of the third period, while goaltender Brendan Patterson finished with 43 saves.

Mackenzie Fritzler also scored twice for the Cubs, while Kian Simonson and Riley Florkowsi added singles.

The game was a back and forth affair that saw the Cubs lead 3-1 before the Colts came back to take a 5-3 lead late in the middle stanza.

Quintin Thorburn, Colton Anderson, Damian Vickers, Raegen Keim and Erran Thompson found the back of the net for Mountainview.

Anderson finished with three points for the Colts, giving him 243 in his HJHL career, which passes Kyle Maas (Blackfalds 2008-2011) for most in HJHL recorded history.

GAME SUMMARY

Coaldale (3) vs. High River (2)

COALDALE – Brandyn Howg’s tally just prior to the midway mark of the third period proved to be the difference as the Coaldale Copperheads held on for a 3-2 win over the High River Flyers.

Evan Pakkala opened the scoring just 43 seconds into the game, giving the Flyers an early 1-0 lead, however the Copperheads would reply with three unanswered goals of their own off the sticks of Gavin Burns, Riese Nevil along with Howg’s third period tally.

Liam Bollivar added a power play marker for the Flyers with 5:12 remaining to cut the lead down to one.

Dylan James stood tall in the Flyers crease with a 36-save performance, while Andrew Suriano stopped 20-of-22 for Coaldale.

GAME SUMMARY

Red Deer (8) vs. Stettler (4)

RED DEER – The Red Deer Vipers title defence got off to a perfect start thanks to a three-goal, two-assist performance from Aidan Wilson as the Vipers took an 8-4 win over the Stettler Lightning.

Lane Sim finished with a goal and two helpers, while Declan Johnston, Keagan Kingwell, Brody Kalinowski and Kayson Gallant rounded out the offensive attack.

Branden Bilodeau turned aside 30 shots to pick up the win between the pipes.

Dylan Houston and Kieran Rost provided the offence for the Lightning, each finding the back of the net twice.

GAME SUMMARY

Airdrie (5) vs. Three Hills (2)

THREE HILLS – Jacob MacDonald scored twice and setup another as the Airdrie Thunder were 5-2 winners over the Three Hills Thrashers on Saturday evening.

Brenden Davidson, Rylan Plante-Crough and Andrew Neis rounded out the scoring for the Thunder, while CJ Wedening picked up the win between the pipes, stopping 25-of-27 on the night.

Despite the Thunder holding a 37-23 advantage in shots through 40 minutes, the game was tied at two apiece going into the final frame thanks to Thrashers goalie Klay Munro, who finished the night with 56 saves.

Carter Conway and Derek Samoleski were the goal scorers for the Thrashers.

GAME SUMMARY

Strathmore (6) vs. Cochrane (3)

STRATHMORE – Full story to come…

GAME SUMMARY