Generals Tops in HJHL After Exciting Win Over Vipers

Friday night saw the two top teams in the Heritage League, the Generals and the Red Deer Vipers, facing off in the league’s marquee matchup of the week. Both teams were tied at the top with 45 points. The Generals came into the game with a record of 22-4-1, the Vipers at 22-5-1. These two clubs played one of the more entertaining hockey games you’ll ever see.

The game started at a torrid pace but it wasn’t until the 18 minute mark of the first that the Gens finally opened the scoring. Mike Matlo buried his 24^th of the season with his linemates Jay Labelle and Alex Colbourne picking up the helpers. The lead was short lived however. The Vipers evened the score only 40 seconds later. The first period came to a close with both teams knotted at one.

The second period saw this game really open up offensively. The Generals had three different leads in the period but as soon as the Cochrane squad would get a lead they would give a goal right back to the Vipers. The Generals outscored their opponents 3-2 in the second frame on goals from Kris Keller, Jay Labelle, and HJHL scoring leader Danny Mcsween. The period ended with the Generals nursing a 4-3 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Despite a solid effort out of the gate in the third, the Vipers were able to pot 2 quick goals to get their first lead of the game, with 15 minutes left in the game. Last weekend when the Generals found themselves trailing the Three Hills Thrashers the team got very negative on the bench and that resulted in a loss. This was not the case Friday night, however. The Generals stuck to their game plan and continued to finish their checks and forechecking hard. Their hard work paid off with 9:40 left in the third when Alex Colbourne buried a powerplay marker to tie things up at five. The Generals never took their foot off the gas and regained the lead five minutes later when Mscween fired home his 35^th of the season. Colbourne then added his second of the game to ice the game.

The final buzzer rang with the score board reading Generals 7, Vipers 5. The Generals now sit 2 points ahead of the Vipers with 1 game in hand. The final shots were 45-43 for the Vipers. The difference in this match was special teams. Cochrane went 4/9 on the PP while killing 2/3 Vipers powerplays. The Generals next game is Sunday afternoon in Okotoks against a very good Bisons team.