The Airdrie Thunder and Red Deer Vipers clashed in Game One of their Northern Division Final last night (March 7th).

The Thunder entered the game in Red Deer wearing their white uniforms, except for goaltender Ryan Simpson.

Simpson, whose twin brother Morgan passed away last Friday, went into warmup with his #26 Copperheads jersey to honour his brother and best friend.

The Vipers got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Jack Maccready scored the first goal for Airdrie.

Red Deer followed that up with two more goals to take a 4-1 lead heading into the second.

The Thunder would score the only two goals of the second period, thanks to Zach Giroux to put them within one goal of tying the game.

Unfortunately, it was all Red Deer in the final period as the Vipers scored twice to take the game 6-4.

Ryan Simpson stayed in net through the entire game, making 29 saves in the loss.

The Thunder will look for redemption when they host Game Two of the best of seven series tomorrow night (March 9th) at 8:00 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.

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