BLAZERS WIN 5-2 OVER REBELS
By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X
The Kamloops Blazers hosted the Red Deer Rebels Wednesday night for their first and only matchup this season.
Kamloops wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard. Early in the frame, former Rebel Ty Coupland found Harrison Brunicke, who slid a perfect cross-crease feed to Cooper Moore, who beat Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro. The Blazers nearly doubled their lead when Nathan Behm attempted a wraparound, but Kondro got a piece of it on the goal line.
The Blazers continued to generate offence, finding multiple high-danger chances on the powerplay but couldn’t beat Kondro. Red Deer eventually found footing, with Tyson Yaremko unleashing a one-timer, but Logan Edmonstone flashed the glove to rob him.
Kamloops carried the momentum into the second period, striking early as Ty Bonkowski buried his 10th goal of the season to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead. Red Deer finally solved Edmonstone, as Sicamous native Owen DeWitt found the back of the net for his first WHL goal.
The Blazers responded immediately, Josh Evaschesen walked in over the line and snapped a shot off the post and in, restoring the two goal advantage. The Rebels refused to go away, answering back once again as Patrick Sopiarz picked his spot and beat Edmonstone to cut the lead to one.
The third period opened with steady, end-to-end play before the physicality ramped up. Rebels forward Kohen Lodge delivered a dangerous hit on Blazers captain Ryan Michael, resulting in Brunicke stepping in to defend his captain.
Kamloops would use that surge of emotion to its advantage as Vit Zahejsky found Dryden Deobald net front, who snapped a shot past Kondro for his second of the season, extending the lead to two. With 4:00 left, the Rebels pulled their goalie and Evaschesen struck for his second of the night to seal the game 5-2.
Up next: Kamloops will head to Penticton Friday, before returning home Saturday to face the Prince George Cougars.
