The Airdrie Thunder opened 2011 the way it ended 2010 – with a win and renewed optimism.
The Thunder beat the High River Flyers 6-3 in the first home game of the calendar year, at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Jan. 2, on the strength of three points by Taylor Crossley, two goals by Kristian Petit and a game-winning goal by Justin Rockafellow with 6:01 left in the second period.
Logan Marlow made 30 saves for his seventh win of the season, while the Thunder improved to 16W-6L.
“We finished off (2010) on a high, beating Cochrane, so to get the first win after continues the momentum,” said Thunder head coach Darryl Einarson. “I’m pleased with the team and the direction it’s going right now.”
Airdrie’s Andrew Bergmann opened the scoring 5:50 into the first, before Petit notched his first of the night six minutes later. High River brought it to 2-1 midway through the middle frame, on a goal by Dan McIntosh, but every time the Flyers scored Airdrie seemed to have a response.
“It got a little bit chippy; Bergmann got hit from behind and stuff like that, but we preserved and got the win,” Einarson said. “We had a good start, it was 2-0 after one, so if you can come out after the Christmas break with a lead after the first period, that’s a bonus. Our guys played fairly solid and I thought Marlow was solid in net.”
Crossley and Rockafellow also scored in the second before Rollo and Petit iced the game in the third. Einarson was happy with the balanced scoring, both by the lines and by each period.
“Some other guys picked up the slack and Petit’s been an amazing addition – he has nine goals in seven games – and you can’t ask for anything more,” he said. “Our lines seem to be gelling and come together.”
The team played its first game with a full lineup Dec. 18 in Cochrane, during Airdrie’s thrilling last-minute 5-4 win over the Generals. With the Thunder sitting nine points behind Cochrane, the Jan. 7 rematch, becomes even more important.
“We’d certainly like to grab first spot in the division and it’s not out of reach, but we have to take care of our own business first,” Einarson said.
“We know what they bring with their high-powered offence and they’re tremendous on-the-transition game. We played a solid game there (Dec. 18) and it was pretty exciting scoring with 15 seconds left in Cochrane. It’s a pretty big rivalry and we’ll be ready for that one.”
Game time is 8 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
