Rebels dominate game five in Medicine Hat to eliminate Tigers
By DANNY RODE
MEDICINE HAT – The Red Deer Rebels weren’t about the give the Medicine Hat Tigers any hopes of coming back in their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
The Rebels eliminated the Tigers 4-1 with a 5-2 victory before 5,263 fans at the Co-Op Place Friday.
“We talked about (not allowing them any momentum). The guys last year had that experience they learned from and that came out hard tonight,” said Rebels head coach Dave Struch.
The win set the stage for a rematch of last year’s Eastern semifinal against the Saskatoon Blades, which saw the Blades overcame a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3.
The Rebels stormed out of the gate and gained some early momentum with Carson Latimer scoring his fourth goal of the series at 2:56. Dwayne Jean Jr. made it 2-0 at 10:52 taking a drop pass from Matthew Gard and beating Tigers starting netminder Zach Zahara from the right circle. That spelled the end of the night for Zahara, who made seven saves before being replaced by Ethan McCallum.
The Rebels lead 3-0 after 40 minutes and were up 5-0 in the third before the Tigers managed to beat Red Deer goalie Chase Wutzke twice.
‘This game was a buildup from what we did last game (a 3-2 win Wednesday at the Peavey Mart Centrium),” said Struch. “We played a full 60 minutes in that game and we carried that over into the first period tonight.
“I didn’t like the second period at all as we sat back and turned the puck over a lot, but Wutzke did a great job for us … gave us the opportunity to come out in the third period and play the right way.”
Wutzke was especially brilliant during a 54-second stretch with the Rebels down two men.
“Your goalie is your best penalty killer and he was plus the guys did a good job of keeping the puck to the outside, blocking shots and getting their sticks in the lanes,” added Struch.
Chase Wutzke after going 4-1 in his first ever WHL playoff series pic.twitter.com/FbV9CiHvZ0
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) April 6, 2024
The Rebels once again laid their bodies on the line in this one, getting themselves in front of a number of potential good scoring opportunities by the Tigers.
“What that does is give us energy … it’s such an energy giver when guys sacrifice themselves. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the penalty kill or five-on-five. The energy you get is remarkable,” said Struch.
Matteo Fabrizi also pulled a puck out off the goal line in the second period which saw Medicine Hat outshoot the Rebels 18-5.
Frantisek Formanek gave the Rebels a little more breathing room in the middle stanza when collected a rebound off a Kai Uchacz shot, to beat McCallum at 15:48. Kalan Lind played a major role in the goal, stealing the puck in the Tigers zone to set up Uchacz.
The third period saw Uchacz take advantage of a lucky bounce off the Zamboni door to score into the open side at 4:37 while on the powerplay. Talon Brigley made it 5-0, ripping a shot off McCallum’s arm just 29 seconds later.
Rebels got goals from five different players with 10 players picking up points.
“Our depth really helps us,” added Struch. “When the guys feel good about the way they’re playing they get rewarded for it.”
The Tigers picked up their pace even more after the Rebels fifth goal and Andrew Basha finally solved Wutzke on a rebound at 10:57. Nate Corbet tipped in a point shot at 15:47.
However, the Rebels tightened their defence and Wutzke refused to break finishing the game with 36 saves.
Coach Struch after tonight’s series clinch in win in Medicine Hat pic.twitter.com/f6K6Pw8R7y
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) April 6, 2024
ICE CHIPS – McCallum finished with 13 saves … The Tigers honoured their three overage players – Rhett Parsons, Dru Krebs and Bogdans Hodass – as the three stars … The Rebels penalty kill was brilliant in the series, allowing only one goal on 20 shorthanded situations …. They scored five powerplay goals on 22 opportunities … The win sets up an Eastern Conference Semifinals rematch between the Rebels and Saskatoon Blades in round two starting Friday, April 12 at SaskTel Centre at 7 p.m. Game two goes Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. The series then shifts to Red Deer for games three and four, Tuesday, April 16 and Wednesday, April 17 at the Peavey Mart Centrium at 7 p.m. ….If additional games are needed they go April 19, 21 and 23. … The Blades also won their first-round series over Prince Albert 4-1 with a 6-2 win Friday … Swift Current and Moose Jaw, both of whom swept their series, meet in the other Eastern semifinal.
