The Airdrie Techmation Thunder remain in third place in the North Division of the Heritage Junior Hockey League but lost ground to the team in first when they dropped a 4 - 2 decision to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers last night (January 14).

It was one of two games for Airdrie this weekend.  In the other, played Friday night in the city, the Thunder came close to letting a 5 - 1 lead after two periods slip away only to hold on for a 5 - 4 win over the South Division's High River Flyers.

After moving out to a 1 - 0 lead on Joey Haden's 21st goal of the campaign after one period, the Thunder scored four times in the second period compared to just one for the Flyers to take a commanding 5 - 1 lead after two.  Matthew MacDonald, Jack Turton, and Tyson Sandhu scored before Haden added his second of the night.

If the Thunder thought they had the game in the bag, they might have been premature in their thinking.  The Flyers scored three times to cut the Airdrie lead to a single goal with still nearly ten minutes to go in the game. The Airdrie defense toughened, shutting down the Flyers for the rest of the game to claim their 5 - 4  win.  

Last night the Thunder went into Sylvan Lake's NexSource Centre looking for two big points against the Wranglers.  Sylvan's Payton Wright's first goal of the night gave the Wranglers the lead after one and they made it 2 - 0 just 25 seconds into the second.

The Thunder then went to work, halving the Sylvan Lake lead on a goal by Jared Miller.  Before the period was over though, Wright scored for the second time in the game to give the Wranglers a 3 - 1 heading into the final frame.  Seventeen minutes in, Dace Carlson once again pulled Airdrie to within one.  The Thunder would pull goalie Austin White for an extra attacker with under a minute to play.  Airdrie's search for a win would come to an end with 17 seconds remaining when Wright scored his hat trick goal to make the final 4 - 2.

Sylvan Lake still has another game this weekend against the Medicine Hat Cubs but their performance to date has them with 43 points after 29 games. The Mountainview Colts are second with 37 points in 30 games while the Thunder is one point back with 36 points after 31 games.

Airdrie's next action is on Friday, January 20th at 8:00 pm in the Ron Ebbesen Arena when they take on the Rocky Rams.  

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com