Early deficit too much to overcome in loss to Rebels

Early deficit too much to overcome in loss to Rebels

Saskatoon, SK – The Saskatoon Blades (2-2-1-0) fell 4-2 on Friday inside SaskTel Centre to the Red Deer Rebels (3-2-0-1).

A slow start was the downfall for the Bridge City Bunch, allowing three goals in the opening 6:13 of the contest.

“We didn’t deserve to win,” said Blades Head Coach Dan DaSilva, “Give them credit, they came out hard, and we knew they were going to come out hard like that, we know what kind of team they are, and we just simply weren’t ready for it.”

Rookie Saskatoon netminder Martin Psohlavec was throughout the first half of the contest. The Blue and Gold were outshot 16-6 in the opening frame, led 13-10 in the second period, and peppered the visitors 10-2 in the third. The Philadelphia Flyers draft pick stopped 23 of 27 shots, dropping his record to 2-1-0-0 with a .906 save percentage (SV%) and 2.72 goals against average (GAA).

Saskatoon’s man-advantage scored on goal on six attempts, while the penalty went a perfect 3/3.

“The PK did a good job, that was a big kill at the end of the first to keep it from going to 4-0,” said DaSilva.

Things got off to a rocky start for the Bridge City Bunch. Colorado Avalanche draft pick Beckett Hamilton opened the scoring 2:53 into the game with his fifth goal of the season. A small section of cheers echoed around the arena during the goal announcement for the Saskatoon product.

2007-born forward Poul Andersen made it 2-0 Rebels 36 seconds later with his first goal of the period. The St. Louis Park, MN product extended the lead to 3-0 less than three minutes later with his third goal of the campaign. Hamilton earned the lone assist on both goals, giving him eight points (5G, 3A) in four games. Hamilton and Andersen earned first and second star respectively.

Blades Head Coach Dan DaSilva used his team’s timeout following the third Red Deer goal.

“(We) didn’t manage pucks very well at all tonight,” said DaSilva, “I don’t know how many turnovers (we had), we’ll see it in the video, it’s going to be at a really high number. (We) didn’t want to buy into playing a brand of hockey that wins in this league, and we showed our immaturity tonight. Not disciplined at times, didn’t want to pay the price to win, they did, and that’s why they won the game.”

Red Deer forward Cameron Kuzma scored his third goal of the season 7:15 into the middle frame to make it 4-0. Psohlavec made an impressive save off the initial shot, but couldn’t sprawl out in time to get enough of his stick on the puck.

The Blades finally broke through Red Deer goalie Matthew Kondro thanks to 2007-born forward Yegor Gusev’s first Western Hockey League (WHL) goal. The Novosibirsk, RUS native made a gorgeous move inside the Rebels blue line before ripping a missile to the top-blocker sider. Edmonton Oilers draft pick David Lewandowski and Blades captain Brayden Klimpjke earned assists on the goal.

YEGOR GUSEV WITH A BEAUTY FIRST GOAL AS A BLADE 🚨 pic.twitter.com/wWDVCAjEUk

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) October 3, 2026

The Rebels got into penalty trouble following Gusev’s tally, committing three minor penalties in the final 7:49 of the second period. After going 0/1 in the first period, the Blades didn’t cashed in on the second attempt of the period and third attempt of the game.

Klimpke one-timed a give-and-go pass from Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Cooper Williams to cut the Rebels’ lead down to 4-2. The third-year defenceman extended his season-opening point streak to five games with ten points (4G, 6A) in that span. The two-point performance earned Klimpke third star honours.

KLIM AND COOP WITH THE GIVE-AND-GO 🚨🚨@CanadiensMTL | @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/yWjG1iWT4n

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) October 3, 2026

Red Deer winger Grayden Petersen went to the penalty box for high-sticking with 49 seconds left in the middle frame. Despite a couple close chances, Saskatoon remained behind a pair headed into second intermission.

Saskatoon didn’t capitalize on the remaining 1:11 of powerplay time on the clock, but did generate momentum for the rest of the frame. Just 2:58 into the third, Rebels forward Kalder Varga was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding rookie Blades winger Kain Martinuik.

The Blades generated several dangerous chances in the first 2:23 of the man-advantage, before Martinuik committed his own two-minute slashing infraction. No goals came on either the 4-on-4 or remaining time from the initial five-minute penalty.

Saskatoon pulled Psohlavec late to pressure with the extra attacker. Kondro stood tall with a couple big saves later to send 8,414 fans in attendance home sour.

“It’s a great lesson for us this early in the year of how we need to play, and things that we can’t just do, and expect to just go out and win,” said DaSilva, “It’s a hard league to win in, you have to earn it ever single night, and tonight we simply didn’t earn it.”

Saskatoon has a week of preparation before a doubleheader weekend at SaskTel Centre. The Blue and Gold welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, Oct. 9 for First Responders Night, followed by Friendsgiving on Saturday, Oct. 10 against 16-year-old phenom Maddox Schultz and the Regina Pats. Puck drop for both games it 7:00 p.m. MT.