The Airdrie Thunder finished its preseason with a 3W-1L record following a pair of wins last weekend.
The Junior B squad beat the Blackfalds Wranglers 3-2 on the road, Sept. 26, after Travis Wallan’s four point effort led the Thunder to a 5-3 win over the Red Deer Vipers at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Sept. 24.
“We outchanced them, but in our own end we were very sloppy in the first period,” said Thunder head coach Darryl Einarson, following the victory over the Vipers. “I thought our intensity level was much better in the second and third periods. We really took it to them, which is what you should do in your home rink.”
Red Deer took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after a Taylor Rusaw point shot put them up, seven minutes into the first. Airdrie responded 25 seconds into the second, on its first of four power play goals in the game, when Alex Diduch tucked home an off-angle shot from a Wallan pass.
Two minutes later, the Vipers made it 2-1 when Jeff Kohut scored on the power play. Wallan then tipped in his first to even the score at 2-2 midway through the second.
Alex Hustad made it 3-2 early in the third, when he tapped in a shot from Ian McNulty’s rush. The Thunder relinquished the lead again, after an extra two-minute penalty from a large scramble in the Airdrie end. Diduch earned 27 penalty minutes on the play and was one of four players ejected from the game.
“I certainly questioned why we got the extra two minutes, because the ref’s arm wasn’t up initially on Diduch,” Einarson said. “It was a good hard hit and that’s the way Alex plays the game.”
The Vipers’ Joel Pelletier tied the game on that power play, but the Thunder’s Patrick Coady had a quick answer, and eventual game-winning goal, when he completed a pretty passing play with Wallan and Doug Fraser on the power play with 7:32 remaining.
Wallan then added a shorthanded goal with 4:02 left to secure the victory.
“Wally was here to play and the vets are all starting to get in shape for the regular season,” Einarson said. “He was named assistant captain this week and I thought he led the way up front tonight.”
Christian Santer and Logan Marlow split the duties in net and Einarson said he was happy with both of their performances. He was also impressed with the Thunder’s power play, as it had been a big focus in practice during the past week.
“It’s pretty pleasing as a coach when you get success after you have been working on it. That doesn’t always happen, but our guys are learning quickly,” Einarson said. “We also wanted to finish the preseason on a positive note, as Blackfalds won the league last year. It was a good test for us going into the home opener.”
The Airdrie Thunder will open its season at home against the Mountainview Colts on Oct. 1. Game time is 8 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
