Rebels dominate but drop OT loss to Lethbridge in home opener
The effort was one the Red Deer Rebels hope to copy throughout their 2024-25 Western Hockey League season.
The end result not so much.
The Red Deer Advocate Home Opener at the Peavey Mart Centrium saw the Rebels fall 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes.
“I thought that we played a great game right from start to finish,” said Rebels head coach Dave Struch.
“(It was) everything that we were after. We started on time, we had an identity that we’ve created over the last three and a half weeks. I thought we played to that right from the start.”
STATS STORY
Koen Cleaver – (G) Lethbridge – 30 saves
Matteo Fabrizi – (D) Red Deer – 1 goal
Logan Wormald – (F) Lethbridge – overtime winner
Power Plays – Red Deer 0-for-3, Lethbridge 0-for-4
GAME RECAP
Red Deer opened the scoring early on as Matteo Fabrizi scored the first Rebels goal of the season after Carson Birnie found Fabrizi open in the high slot 2:35 into period one.
All 👀 on the first #RDREBELS goal of the season!#WHL pic.twitter.com/0Uq030Mi9L
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) September 22, 2024
The Rebels hung on to the lead until late in the second period when Lethbridge answered back on a tally from Hayden Pakkala.
A scoreless third period pushed the game to overtime where Logan Wormald beat Rhett Stoesser for the game winner for Lethbridge with just over two minutes left in extra time.
Red Deer outshot Lethbridge 31-14 only to be stymied repeatedly by Hurricane goalie Koen Cleaver – who earned first star honours while also earning his first WHL win – and some back luck along the way as they pushed several pucks past Cleaver, but through the crease and just wide on several occasions.
Both teams had four players away at NHL camps. Red Deer was minus goaltender Chase Wutzke (MIN) and forwards Ollie Josephson (SEA), Kalan Lind (NSH) and Kasper Pikkarained (NJ) while Lethbridge was without goalie Harrison Meneghin (TB), defenceman Noah Chadwick (TOR), and forwards Miguel Marques (NSH) and Brayden Edwards (DET).
Lethbridge starts the season 2-0-0-0 while Red Deer starts the season 0-0-1-0. These two Eastern Conference teams will meet seven more times in the 2024-25 regular season.
THREE STARS
3 – Matthew Gard (RD) 2 – Carson Birnie (RD) 1 – Koen Cleaver (LET)
POSTGAME COMMENTS
Hear more from Rebels head coach Dave Struch…
NEXT UP
The Red Deer Rebels are back in action at 7 p.m., on Friday, September 27, as they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Peavy Mart Centrium (TICKETS).
