The Red Deer Vipers began the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) season off strong over the weekend.
They blew out the Ponoka Stampeders 8-1 on Saturday in Ponoka thanks to tremendous special teams play by Red Deer.
Not only did they score on four of their six powerplay opportunities, but they also held the Stampeders to just one powerplay goal on 12 opportunities.
After a scoreless first period, the Vipers notched five goals in the second, two by forward Brady Leroux. Foxx Doell, Luke Simanton, and Evan Lemke also scored in the middle frame.
In the third period, Lemke scored his second of the game followed by goals from Griffin Slywka and Deegan Panas. Stampeders forward Nathan Bernhardt scored the team's lone goal midway through the third period.
Vipers goaltender Austin Deck made 27 saves in the victory. Meanwhile, Stampeders netminder Ray Musgrove was pulled after giving up seven goals on 29 shots. Austin Hartman replaced him and made seven saves on eight shots.
Next up for the Vipers, they'll face the Sylvan Lake Wranglers on Friday at the NexSource Centre at 8 p.m. followed by a clash with the Airdrie Techmation Thunder on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Servus Arena.
