Coaldale Copperheads 3, Agra Risk Wheatland Kings 0
The Coaldale Copperheads picked up a hard-fought road shutout, blanking the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings 3-0 at Strathmore Family Centre Arena in a game that turned ugly late in the third period with a bench-clearing-style scrap that produced 15 penalties in a single stoppage.
Coaldale got the only goal it would need late in the first period, as Barrett Van Nistelrooy buried a feed from Cohen Richardson and Ryan Holm with 2:01 left in the frame for what stood as the eventual game-winner. The Copperheads doubled their lead in the second on a shorthanded tally from Brett Hudey at 5:05, and Parker Fleishhauer added a power-play insurance goal just 49 seconds into the third, assisted by Ethan Siemens and Devin Groenenboom.
From there, goaltending and discipline were the story. Coaldale’s Brylin Noble was perfect on the night, stopping all 29 shots he faced for the shutout, while Wheatland’s Evan McNair made 22 saves on 25 shots in a tough-luck loss. The game turned chaotic at 13:47 of the third period, when a line brawl broke out and officials handed out a combined 15 penalties on the single stoppage — six players each picked up a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct, and Wheatland’s Koen Wainwright was ejected with a game misconduct on top of a checking-from-behind minor. Coaldale finished 1-for-7 on the power play and Wheatland 0-for-9, with both teams combining for 114 penalty minutes.