PHOTO: Aaron Grimaldo/AbsentLIght Photography
A game that spanned nearly three hours came down to 15 seconds of overtime as Declan Waddick sent the 1,381 fans at Thompson Family Arena home happy as the Spruce Grove Saints earned their 10th victory of the season in a 5-4 triumph over the Vernon Vipers on Friday night.
The Saints, at one point, held a 3-0 advantage which began with the first of two goals from Austrian forward Felix Haibock, who gave Spruce Grove a 1-0 lead with a power move down the right side of the ice as he drove to the net and slipped a puck through the legs of Viper goaltender Oliver Kanat for a one-goal lead before Brandon Funk pushed the Saints ahead by a pair with a late first period strike in the final 37 seconds of the frame to give the home side a two-goal lead into the 2nd period.
On the penalty kill in the middle stages of the 2nd period, the Saints received their first shorthanded goal of the season and came in the way of another strong power move and the crisp skating of Adam Perron, who jolted to a loose puck in the offensive zone and raced to the net before finishing his shot over the blocker side shoulder of Kanat for his 2nd goal of the season to push the Saints ahead by a three-goal mark.
That’s when the Vipers kicked their comeback into high gear and started the chip away at the deficit, beginning with Deagan McMillan’s marker at 11:24 of the middle frame to get the Vipers on the board before the power play went to work and struck for the first of three times on the night as Davids Livscis put Vernon down by just a goal heading into the 3rd period.
A former Saint in Evan Sundar got the game on even terms with a power play marker just 31 seconds into the final period of regulation play before the Saints took their lead back and it was Haibock once again for his second goal of the night and fourth against the Vipers this season after depositing a sweet cross ice pass from Max Holland to give the Saints the 4-3 edge.
Newcomer to the Vipers, Leon Bussmann, forced overtime with a goal between the legs of Saints netminder Ryan De Kok that saw each team collect a point in the game and force things beyond the 60-minute mark.
15 seconds into the extra period, Waddick used a burst of speed to get around a Viper defender and cruise to the net before lifting a puck over the glove side of Kanat for his 4th goal of the season and securing the victory for the Saints. De Kok was able to steer aside 20 of the 24 shots thrown his way for his 6th win of the season while Kanat stopped 22 of the 27 shots he faced in his 6th loss of the season.
The Saints are back in action with the second half of their two-game weekend on home ice as they welcome Southern Alberta rival, the Okotoks Oilers, to town on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM at Thompson Family Arena with tickets available for purchase online at tickets.sgsaints.ca.
