Hitmen Edged by Rebels in Red Deer
The Calgary Hitmen mounted a late push, but their rally came up one goal short in a 3-2 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday night at Peavey Mart Centrium.
Hitmen goaltender Ethan Buenaventura was excellent, making 43 saves to give his team a chance. The 19-year-old from Winnipeg was especially busy in the opening period when Red Deer outshot Calgary 16-5 and jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the first career WHL tally from Matthew Gard.
Calgary scored the lone goal of the middle frame to pull even when Keets Fawcett pounced on a rebound to bury his second goal of the season. Carson Wetsch and Oliver Tulk drew the assists in Tulk’s 150th career game.
The turning point came almost halfway through the final 20 minutes when the Rebels scored twice 65 seconds apart on tallies from Kai Uchacz and Gard’s second of the night to take a 3-1 lead.
With the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker, Sean Tschigerl counted his ninth goal of the season to pull the Hitmen to within one but a frantic push for the tie, which included a pair of dangerous looks, failed to find the equalizer.
Red Deer outshot Calgary 48-28 with both teams coming up empty on the power play as the Rebels went 0-5 and the Hitmen 0-3.
The Hitmen are now off until next weekend when they play just once, hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday, Nov. 25 in a 7:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary will then return to Red Deer to face the Rebels again on Tuesday, Nov. 28 before visiting the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
