The Red Deer Vipers dropped down to third in the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s North Division after finishing the weekend 1-1.
With a record of 2-2-1-1, the Vipers sit behind the Sylvan Lake Wranglers (second) and the Mountainview Colts (first).
Their first matchup of the weekend came Sept. 30 against the Sylvan Lake Wranglers on the road and lost 5-1.
The Wranglers took a commanding lead in the first period when they scored three goals from Fox Doell, Austin Corsiatto, and Payton Wright. After a scoreless second period, Sylvan Lake added two more from Brett Westin and a second goal from Corsiatto. Red Deer got their first on the powerplay from Kyle Wallace to get on the board but that’s as close as they would get in the loss.
On Saturday the Vipers returned home and won 4-3 in a shootout against the Rocky Rams.
Red Deer took a 1-0 lead in the first period scored by Boyd Cota before the Rams tied it up later in the frame. Just a few minutes later, Riley Turre restored the Vipers’ lead, however, the Rams tied it 2-2 heading into the second period.
Kyle Goodrunning put the Rams on top for the first time in the middle frame but in the third period Vipers’ Andrew Wallace tied it up to send the game to overtime.
In the shootout, the Vipers won after their first shooter Nolan Larson was the only one to score. Tyler Kohut stood tall for the Vipers in net stopping all three shooters in the shootout and he made 29 saves in regulation.
Next up for the Vipers is a home game against the Cochrane Generals on Friday at Servus Arena at 8:15 p.m. Red Deer will play again on Saturday at Centennial Place Arena against the Three Hills Thrashers at 7:30 p.m.