The Atom 1 Sylvan Lake Lakers fell short 4-2 in their first game of 2020.
The Lakers hosted a visiting Red Deer in NexSource Centre’s Arena 2 on the afternoon of Jan. 4.
Sylvan Lake’s Zaxten Belanger, assisted by Burg Varga, was the first one the scoreboard with a power-play goal.
The Atom 1 Lakers lead was short lived and Red Deer answered with two back-to-back goals to pull ahead 2-1 to close out the first period of play.
The middle frame was scoreless for Sylvan Lake as Red Deer continued to cushion their lead as they put two more past Lakers’ goalie Grady Gardiner.
Kyle Ulseth scored an unassisted goal for the Lakers in the final period to bring the final score to 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Between the pipes Gardiner saved 30 of the 34 shots taken on him by Red Deer.
The Atom 1 Lakers returned to home ice the following day to defeat Olds 9-4 on Jan. 5.
The Lakers hit the road on Saturday for a Red Deer re-match on Jan. 18 before returning home to host Drumheller on Jan. 19.
