In the first game of the Vanberg Cup Finals, the Red Deer Rustlers pulled off an upset.
The Rustlers are facing the league-best Lacombe Generals in the Senior AA North Central Hockey League finals.
And in Game 1 of the seven-game series on Saturday, Red Deer got the upper hand beating Lacombe on the road 6-3.
In the first period, the Rustlers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off the stick of Cory Pritz. Later on, Red Deer extended their lead while shorthanded when Dylan Houston notched a goal with seven minutes left in the frame.
Lacombe answered a minute later to cut the lead in half scored by forward Luke Coleman.
In the next period, the Rustlers scored three minutes in potted by Sean Neumeier but the Generals responded once again scored by Taylor Mulder.
Before the end of the second Red Deer stored their two-goal lead scored by Chris Rackman to head into the third up 4-2.
The Rustlers scored early in the period when Tim Vanstone fired one into the back of the net on the powerplay.
Lacombe’s Patrick Martens added the Generals’ third goal of the evening but it wasn’t enough. Over a minute later Red Deer scored again to secure the 6-3 victory.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday evening in Lacombe at 7:45 p.m., before the series moves to Red Deer on Saturday and Sunday, March 18 and 19.
