Vipers hold off Blackhawks, 7-6

Dennis Grijalva netted three goals to lead the Vipers past the

Blackhawks, 7-6, in the final game of the Howe Division’s roller

hockey regular season.

Grijalva scored two goals in the opening period as the Vipers

outscored the Blackhawks, 3-2.

That turned out to be the decisive period as the teams scored two

goals in each of the final two periods.

Tyler Song contributed two goals and Shaun Black and Andrew

Skowron each scored once.

Christopher Nagle had one assist and Kyle Morrill finished with 19

saves for the fourth place Vipers (6-3-1).

The team will be seeded fourth in the division’s postseason

playoffs.

Brett Hayward scored twice to pace a Blackhawks’ offensive attack

that featured goals by Matthew Chisum, Brock Ane, Justin Novakovich

and Nicholas Weldon.

The Blackhawks, who ended the regular season at 6-4 and in fifth

place, are the tournament’s fifth seeded team.

In other games:

The Heat 2, Hawks 1

Max Devries scored on offense and Aaron Nguyen posted 17 saves as

The Heat finished in sixth place at 6-4.

They will be seeded sixth in the postseason tournament.

Aly Zappen scored off a Kyle McGeary feed and Amy Zappen had 18

saves for the Hawks, who finished the regular season in third place

at 7-3.

Avalanche 7, Team to Beat 5

The Avalanche broke away from a tie game by outscoring Team to

Beat, 4-2, in the final period.

Jimmy Hocker powered the ninth-place Avalanche by scoring his

team’s first four goals, and later scored with an unassisted third

period goal.

Tyler Bales scored once and added a pair of assists, Andrew Wade

scored one goal and D.J. Mihalik had two assists.

Jacob Renaud recorded 19 saves.

Team to Beat, which finished in eighth place, was paced by Taylor

Fitzpatrick and Kevin Caskey, each of whom scored twice and added an

assist.

Like his Avalanche counterpart, Michael Mowrey had 19 saves in the

net.

Predators 4, Blitz 2

John Fortner scored twice with an assist, goals went to Christian

Riechert and Kyle Betz, Cody McWhirter had an assist and Cameron

Marino had 19 saves to pace the 10th-seeded Predators.

Timothy Tauber and Joshua Mockridge both scored, Chad Miller had

an assist and Jeremy Cacal recorded 18 saves for the Blitz.

The Blitz, which finished in seventh place, will carry the

tournament’s No. 7 seed.