Rebels move up in standings with win over Broncos
Rebels 3 Broncos 2
It wasn’t a Rembrandt by any means, but the Red Deer Rebels were able to paint themselves a WHL victory Thursday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
In a game that was at times sloppy and featured multiple giveaways — by both teams — the Rebels dug down and pulled out a 3-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos in front of 2,906 fans.
The triumph was somewhat impressive considering it was the second game in as many nights for the Rebels, following Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout win over the host Calgary Hitmen.
“They (Broncos) were the fresher team and I thought we battled pretty good, just too many turnovers,” said head coach Derrick Walser.
The Rebels bench boss was particularly pleased with the work of his all-rookie fourth line of Matthew Gard, Evan Smith and Jeramiah Roberts.
“Our fourth line tonight was excellent,” said Walser. “They soaked up some big minutes for us and had some scoring chances. Kudos to them.”
Defenceman Hunter Mayo, whose power play goal at 16:33 of the third period was the winner, also credited the club’s younger players.
“It was Gard, Smith and Roberts that led us on the forecheck,” said the fourth-year veteran. “The young guys up front, they led the way tonight so hats off to them. They did a great job.”
As was the case Wednesday, the Rebels never trailed in the contest, twice giving up one-goal leads before Mayo potted the clincher.
Red Deer captain Kai Uchacz opened the scoring early in the second period. With the home team on the power play, Mats Lindgren passed down to Uchacz, who caught the far side of the net from the right circle.
The visitors responded just over four minutes later when Rylan Gould scored from a scramble and the teams went into the second intermission tied at one.
Red Deer regained the lead 5:23 into the final frame when rookie forward Zane Saab notched his second goal of the season, cashing a rebound of a shot by Mayo from 50 feet out.
But again, the Broncos pulled even as Brady Birnie, from just outside the crease, punched a rebound past netminder Rhett Stoesser.
Then, with Broncos forward Caleb Wyrostok serving a kneeing penalty, Uchacz fed Mayo with a rink wide pass and the defenceman, from the left circle, beat goaltender Joey Rocha high to the stick side for the winner. It was Mayo’s third goal of the season.
“I took a peek before I got the puck and just tried to rip short side and it worked out,” said Mayo, who also picked up two assists and was named the game’s first star.
The Rebels were two-for-four on the power play and four-for-four on the penalty kill. The man advantage goals were obviously big for a team that has struggled on the power play this season.
“Our penalty kill has been steady all year, but the power play . . . we’re just making poor decisions at the wrong time and sometimes we get away with giving up a two on one,” said Walser.
“But kudos to them for sticking with it and getting a big goal when we needed it.”
Red Deer improved to 16-12-0-3 and moved into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference — two points clear of the 15-13-1-2 Broncos — and into second place in the Central Division.
“We had some turnovers we have to clean up still, but that was a huge win. We were tied with them before this game and came out on top,” said Mayo. “We came to work tonight. Put pucks to the net and things happen.”
Stoesser was his usual stellar self, making 31 saves while posting his eighth win of the season. He made back to back stops on Luke Mistelbacher early in the game and turned aside a quick release by Josh Filmon from the low slot.
“Stoesser was lights out,” said Walser.
Rocha finished with 29 saves, including a stop on Travis Brigley on a short breakaway. He also took a goal away from Frantisek Formanek early in the third period.
Notable: Selected as the game’s second and third stars were Birnie, who has an assist to go with his goal, and Lindgren, who picked up a pair of helpers . . . Uchacz also recorded an assist for a two-point outing and leads the Rebels with 33 points, including 19 goals . . . Roberts returned to the Red Deer lineup after missing a lengthy stretch with an upper body injury, but Kalan Lind missed his fifth consecutive game (upper body, day-to-day). Fellow top six forward Carson Latimer remains out indefinitely with a lower body injury . . . The Rebels will conclude the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule when they host the Regina Pats Saturday.
(Photos by Taylor Lachance)
