HJHL Roundup: November 17

Four games came down to the wire on an eventful Saturday night in the HJHL.

Red Deer Vipers (4) – Coaldale Copperheads (2)

COALDALE – Justin Anderson stopped 32-of-34 shots faced as the Red Deer Vipers were 4-2 winners over the Coaldale Copperheads on Saturday evening.

Keenan Smith, Matt Cormack, Austin Thorne and Justin Pearup had the goals for the Vipers (11-5-1), which have now won six straight.

Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, the Copperheads (12-3-2) took the lead early in the second period as Jedd Horvath and Jared Bainbridge tallied just 30 seconds apart, but that would be all the offence they would muster up as Anderson shut the door the rest of the way, en route to his seventh win of the season.

Broc Merkl made 30 saves in the loss for Coaldale.

BOXSCORE

Stettler Lightning (4) – Cochrane Generals (3)

STETTLER – Brenden Tucker scored twice within two minutes in the third period to lift the Stettler Lightning to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Cochrane Generals.

The Generals (9-5-1) held a 3-1 lead late in the middle stanza before Quade Cassidy would cut the deficit to just one going into the final frame. Tucker found the equalizer just prior to the five-minute mark of the third period, then 1:54 later added a power-play marker to give the Lightning (9-7-0) their first lead of the game.

Rylee Jacobson had a first period tally for the Lightning, while Davin Nattestad was rock solid in net, stopping 40 shots on the night.

Taylor Girard, Harry Osler and Zach Cugnet provided the offence for Cochrane.

BOXSCORE

Strathmore Wheatland Kings (6) – Lomond Lakers (4)

CLARESHOLM – Cole Busslinger scored twice as the Strathmore Wheatland Kings used a three-goal third period to propel to a 6-4 win over the Lomond Lakers.

Strathmore (10-6-1) trailed 3-1 late in the second period before reeling off four unanswered goals, two off the stick of Busslinger and one each from Kyle Bracko and Isaac Benoit.

Adrian Kusu and Zachary Meadows rounded out the Strathmore attack, while netminder Riley Stovka stopped 33-of-37 shots fired his way to register the win between the pipes, his fourth of the season.

Theo Paskuski made 42 saves in the loss for the Lakers (5-13-0), which got goals from Tyler Rohl, Will Kathol, Bailey Daychief and Damon Keller.

BOXSCORE

High River Flyers (7) – Ponoka Stampeders (5)

PONOKA – Two goals in the final 1:36 of the third period off the stick of Tyler Alger propelled the High River Flyers to a wild 7-5 win over the Ponoka Stampeders.

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw the teams deadlocked at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 at points of the game.

Alger added two assists to finish with four points on the night, while teammates Brennan McPherson and Zachary Mott also scored two goals apiece.

Logan MacLean rounded out the High River (7-12-2) scoring, while Max Johnston made 27 saves in net.

Steven Strizich, Ryan Harder, Kieran Bulloch, Isaiah Deschamps-Cross and Braden Klessens provided the offence for Ponoka (2-10-2), which held a 5-4 lead early in the third period, before the Flyers ripped off three unanswered to close out the game.

BOXSCORE

Mountainview Colts (9) – Medicine Hat Cubs (3)

DIDSBURY – The Mountainview Colts scored six times in the opening period and never looked back en route to a 9-3 win over the Medicine Hat Cubs.

Josh Gette led the charge for the Colts (10-6-0) with three goals on the night, while Damian Vickers, Reed Engman and Matthew Myatt each added a goal and assist.

Ethan Woodward registered the victory between the pipes, making 36 saves along the way.

Alan Klinck, Erran Thompson and Kale Wright rounded out the scoring for Mountainview, which held leads of 6-1 after 20 minutes and 8-2 going into the third period.

Noah Irvine scored all three goals for the Cubs (6-9-2).

BOXSCORE