HJHL Roundup: North vs. South showdowns highlight Friday night

On a day that featured four North vs. South matchups, it was the North that came away with the victories in three of them.

Airdrie (4) vs. Strathmore (2)

AIRDRIE – Rylan Plante-Crough’s shorthanded goal just five seconds into the second period proved to be the difference as the Airdrie Thunder held on for a 4-2 win over the Strathmore Wheatland Kings.

Plnate-Crough scored twice on the night, while Clay Murray and Jacob MacDonald each added a single for the Thunder (11-4-2).

Jaks Faris and Kody Hammond replied for Strathmore (9-5-1) with a pair of second period tallied to cut the deficit to 4-2 going into the final frame.

Ryan Simpson was stellar between the pipes, making 41-of-43 saves, registering his third 40-plus save performance of the season.

GAME SUMMARY

Coaldale (5) vs. Mountianview (3)

DIDSBURY – A balanced attack, that saw five different players find the back of the net, lifted the Coaldale Copperheads to a 5-3 win over the Mountainview Colts on Friday.

Brandon Langridge, Clayton Nevil, Brandyn Howg, Tyler Anderson and Gavin Burns all pitched in with goals for Coaldale (10-7-0), which held leads of 2-1 after 20 minutes and 3-2 going into the final frame.

Josh Gette, Corbin Houchin and Trey Wallace tallied for the Colts (8-6-3), while Colton Anderson factored in on all three goals, finishing the night with three assists.

Nolan Berner picked up his fifth win of the season between the barber poles for Coaldale, stopping 34-of-37 shots along the way.

Ethan Woodward made 32 saves in the loss.

GAME SUMMARY

Red Deer (6) vs. High River (2)

HIGH RIVER – A pair of hat tricks sparked the Red Deer Vipers to a 6-2 win over the High River Flyers Friday night at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex.

Logan Linnell and Mack Differenz each found the back of the net three times, while teammate Brody Kalinowski finished with three assists.

Linnell had a pair of goals going into the third period with Red Deer (10-4-1) leading 3-2, but it was Differenz that would complete the hat trick first with two goals in a span of 2:24. All three of his goals came on the man-advantage.

Connor Taylor scored both of the goals for the Flyers (8-7-3), which got 40 saves from netminder Chantz Vinck.

Branden Bilodeau stopped 22-of-24 shots in the Red Deer crease, improving to 6-2-0 on the season.

GAME SUMMARY

Stettler (7) vs. Cochrane (2)

STETTLER– A 47-save save performance from Brett Roper helped the Stettler Lightning skate to a 7-3 home-ice win over the Cochrane Generals on Friday evening.

Erik Rost and Ethan Rost each found the back of the net twice, while Kieran Rost led all skaters with three points, scoring once and setting up another.

Mark Bengert and Brendan Bardwell rounded out the Stettler (4-8-2) offence, which struck five unanswered times to close out the game.

Scott Shugg and Jordan Fisher provided the offence for Cochrane (8-8-0).

GAME SUMMARY

Blackfalds (9) vs. Three Hills (2)

THREE HILLS – Four different players had multi-goal games as the Blackfalds Wranglers rolled to a 9-2 win over the Three Hills Thrashers.

Landon Siegle led the way with a hat trick, while Curtis Rangen, Braidon Westin and Austin Wilson each found the back of the net twice to round out the Wranglers (11-3-0) offence.

Lane Brann stopped 19-of-21 shots fired his way between the pipes.

Tanner Boutin and Nathan Waiboer had the goals for Three Hills (0-9-0).

GAME SUMMARY