Copperheads chow down on 2-1 Thanksgiving weekend

The Coaldale Copperheads have four of six points to be thankful for following their threegame Thanksgiving weekend homestand.

The Copperheads wrapped up three games in three days with a 4-1 win over the Medicine Hat Cubs during Heritage Junior Hockey League play Monday afternoon at the Coaldale Sportsplex.

The win completes a 2-1 weekend that began with a 7-0 blanking of the Stettler Lightning Friday night before a 4-2 loss to the Blackfalds Wranglers.

The 2-1 weekend improves the Copperheads to 4-2 and puts them in tie for first place in the Southern Division with the Cochrane Generals.

The Copperheads led the Cubs 2-1 after the second period Monday and scored two more in the third to clinch the win.

Jedd Horvath got things going for Coaldale in the first and Calvin Swanson made it 2-0 Copperheads in the second before the Cubs scored a shorthanded marker 2:02 later to make it 2-1.

Logan Middleton and Sam Paskuski scored for the Copperheads in the third to round out the scoring.

Copperheads goaltender Nolan Berner was busy recording the win, stopping 39 shots.

Against the Lightning, the Copperheads scored twice in the first and second periods and added three more in the third to post the shutout win as Coaldale goaltender Berner stopped all 23 shots he faced for the blank sheet.

Levi Anderson and Horvath scored in the first period and Paskuski and Gavin Burns scored in the second for a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.

Anderson added his second of the game in the third. Middleton and Brandyn Howg also scored in the third for Coaldale.

Middleton added two assists for a three-point night, while Troy Feldbusch and Turner Sharp each had two assists.

On Sunday, the Copperheads trailed 2-0 after the first period and responded with a pair in the second, but the Wranglers added two of their own in the second stanza for all the scoring they’d need to post the road win.

Riese Nevil and Middleton were the Copperheads goal scorers in Sunday’s loss. Sharp and Swanson each had a pair of helpers, while Andrew Suriano took the loss, stopping 28 of 32 shots.

The Copperheads head to Airdrie Friday to take on the Thunder and return to the Coaldale Sportsplex Saturday when the Ponoka Stampeders come calling at 8:30 p.m.