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Red Deer Vipers drop game one of HJHL qualifying round

Vipers came back from 4-0 deficit
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The Red Deer Vipers celebrate the first goal of the game against the Rocky Rams earlier this season at Servus Arena. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate staff)

Rams 7 Vipers 6 (Rams lead series 1-0)

The Red Deer Vipers did everything they could but came up just short in the first game of the qualifying round in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) playoffs.

On Tuesday night at Rocky Arena, the Vipers stormed back from a 4-0 deficit but wasn’t enough to beat the Rocky Rams who won at home 7-6.

After the Rams scored all four goals in the first two periods, Vipers defenceman Brandon Kalinowski finally got the team on the board 1:28 into the final frame.

A minute later Alex Litster fired a shot into the back of the net to bring Red Deer within two. However, the Vipers’ comeback was slightly delayed after Rocky potted another one to take a 5-2 lead.

At the midway point, the Vipers got back on the scoresheet on the powerplay scored by Andrew Wallace followed by Marcus Laisnez only a couple of minutes later.

Wallace proceeded to put the team on his back scoring two straight powerplay goals within 30 seconds of each other. The back-to-back goals not only completed the hat trick but gave Red Deer a 6-5 lead.

With just under five minutes left, Rocky found the equalizer and retook a 7-6 lead in the dying minutes of the contest.

Despite letting in seven goals, Vipers’ goaltender had a solid night in net and made 40 saves.

The Rocky Rams now lead the best-of-three series 1-0 and have a chance to eliminate Red Deer in game two.

The next game is a must-win for the Vipers but they’ll have their home crowd to cheer them on Thursday night at 8:45 p.m. at Servus Arena.



Ian Gustafson

About the Author: Ian Gustafson

Ian began his journalism career as a reporter in Prince Albert, Sask. for the last three years, and was born and raised in Saskatchewan.
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