A Night to Remember
It was a career night for 2 Red Deer Rebels, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darcy Kuemper helped beat the Swift Current Broncos 5-0 on Saturday night.
For Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it was his second home game in a row with a hat-trick, and collected 5 points in total on the night. He becomes the first Rebel since Justin Mapletoft and Kyle Wanvig (both 2001) to score 100 points in a season. A league record was tied when Darcy Kuemper recorded the shutout, matching the league best of 13.
The night began for Red Deer when RNH one-timed an Alex Petrovic shot past goaltender Austin Smith. At 17:43 of the first, Hopkins would once again score, this time on a quick wrister from the right side that beat Smith far side. Byron Froese would put a cross-ice feed from Hopkins top shelf, and it was 3-0 Red Deer before the first period was over. Shots in the first were 13-6 for the home squad.
The Rebels #9 would bring the crowd to its feet, literally, when he squeaked one through the goaltender for his 3rd of the night. The rousing ovation would seem to cap off the evening for the 17 year old forward, but he wasn’t done. With 3:33 remaining in the game, he initiated a tic-tac-toe passing play that saw Andrej Kudrna put home a beautiful Byron Froese pass, and the Rebels lead 5-0.
Shots in the game were 42-31 for Red Deer, who were also 3/4 on the PP.
Next action is a date in Calgary tomorrow evening against the Hitmen. A home and home series with the Oil Kings next weekend finishes off the regular season. Tickets for the March 25 and 26 playoff home games go on sale Monday morning.
