Rebels allow four second period goals in home loss to Raiders
Raiders 6 Rebels 2
At least the Red Deer Rebels won the third period.
The Rebels notched the lone goal of the final frame Friday night, but it was far too little, far too late.
The visiting Prince Albert Raiders got three goals from Krzysztof Macias and two from Ryder Ritchie enroute to a 6-2 WHL victory over their hosts before 3,619 fans at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
“I’m unhappy with some of the scenarios tonight,” said Rebels head coach Derrick Walser, whose club dropped to 1-3-0-0 and have yet to win on home ice.
“Right now we’re not doing enough to win games. You can’t show up in the last period and start playing physical.”
The Raiders struck for a pair of early goals, with Macias beating rookie stopper Chase Wutzke with a wrist shot from just inside the blueline and Aiden Oiring, on the power play, connecting with a high shot from the top of the left circle.
Down 2-0 not even five minutes into the game, the Rebels responded on a power play of their own at the 7:50 mark, Carson Latimer tipping Mats Lindgren’s point shot past netminder Max Hildebrand.
But the Raiders restored their two-goal lead early in the middle period when Macias, with the visitors back on the power play, converted a nifty give-and-go with Matej Kubiesa.
“I think the first two goals really hurt us,” said Walser. “We got back in it but then we’re taking penalties 200 feet from our net and our penalty kill has to be better, as simple as that.”
Macias completed his hat trick midway near the midway point of the period, cutting across the crease and tucking the puck under Wutzke, who was replaced by Rhett Stoesser — making his season debut after recovering from February knee surgery — at the next whistle.
The Raiders kept pouring it on as Ryder Ritchie scored back to back before the period ended, cashing a cross-crease feed from Sloan Stanick — again on the power play — and then beating Stoesser to the short side from close range.
Latimer potted his second of the evening — a power play marker — from the edge of the crease with 6:35 remaining in the game.
That the Raiders seemed to score easily was due to a lack of commitment from his charges, Walser stated.
“It hurts to win and we’re not willing to lay bodies on the line and block shots and it has to change,” he said. “If these guys don’t want to do it we’ll put guys in who want to do it.
“It comes down to details, wanting to win. That means you have ice bags after the game. We don’t have an ice bag on a body. We didn’t block a shot until the end.
“Their team was laying down, blocking everything. That’s what it takes to win and you need your goalies to make saves.”
The Raiders were three-for-seven on the power play while the Rebels were two-for-five with a man advantage.
“Special teams have to be a big part and right now we’re not getting it together and we have to figure it out as a group,” said Walser.
The Rebels, out of frustration, were involved in several scrums in the second half of the game.
“When you’re down by that much you just want to try and make an impact somehow,” said captain Kai Uchacz. “Your emotions get out of hand and guys are just trying to spark the team.”
The Rebels will attempt to reverse course when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes Saturday at 7 p.m.
“I think everyone looks at us as being a pretty good hockey team, but guess what, no one is going to hand it to you,” said Walser. “We have to dig our heels in and get the win tomorrow and move forward.”
Added Uchacz: “It’s not the way we wanted it to go tonight, especially in our home barn. We have a chance tomorrow and we’re going to come in and turn this thing around.
“I think we have to get in sync, just get over the hump and the slump we’re in right now. We have to work hard and get a win and it will change from there.”
Notable: Hildebrand made 33 saves while posting his second win of the season for the 3-3-0-0 Raiders. Wutzke stopped nine of 13 shots while Stoesser blocked 11 of 13. He made a pair of dazzling saves in the process, reaching back to make a stick stop on Oiring in the second period and then robbing Terrell Goldsmith in the third . . . The Rebels won at least one battle when Kalan Lind dropped Hayden Pakkala in a second period scrap . . . The Raiders swept the three star selections — (1) Macias, (2) Red Deer native Justice Christensen, who had two assists, and (3) Niall Crocker, who recorded four helpers . . . Lindgren picked up a pair of assists for the Rebels.
