Rebels focused from start to finish in win over Warriors
Rebels 5 Warriors 1
MOOSE JAW — The Red Deer Rebels maintained their focus for a full 60 minutes Wednesday night and it paid off big time with a 5-1 WHL win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“It’s a massive two points,” said head coach Derrick Walser, whose club was coming off a 5-2 loss the previous night in Brandon, where they surrendered three unanswered second period goals after a fine opening frame.
“Last night we played a 20 minute period and then we didn’t play,” said Walser. “Tonight we competed for 60. It’s not always going to be picture perfect but we battled and showed a lot of composure.
“And our discipline was awesome tonight.”
The Rebels opened the scoring when Dwayne Jean Jr., with his second of the season, converted a nifty two-on-one feed from Samuel Drancak 13:15 into the first period.
Red Deer was easily the quicker, hungrier team in the opening 20 minutes. The Rebels were first to the puck all period and held a 15-6 advantage in shots.
The 1-0 lead held until Jagger Firkus scored a four-on-four goal for the hosts early in the third period. The Seattle Kraken prospect buried a one-timer from the left circle after taking a rink wide feed from Columbus Blue Jackets first round pick Denton Mateychuk.
Lynden Lakovic nearly tied the game in the second period expect for an outstanding glove save by Rebels rookie stopper Chase Wutzke.
🎥SAVE OF THE NIGHT🎥
‘Brick wall red’ is totally Chase Wutzke's colour.@RealCdnSS | @Rebelshockey | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/k74NYPBTpM
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 7, 2023
The Warriors carried the play through the first half of the third period and created several scoring chances but couldn’t cash in.
Instead, the Rebels got the go-ahead goal — and the eventual winner — when Frantisek Formanek found the back of the net on a three-on-two break just past the midway point of the period. Mats Lindgren, from the right circle, found Formanek in front with a perfect pass and Kai Uchacz earned the second assist.
From there, Uchacz set up Talon Brigley for an empty net goal on a two-on-one break at the 18:49 mark, Uchacz added another empty netter at 19:23 and rookie Evan Smith, with Jackson Unger back between the pipes, scored 14 seconds later. Smith hauled in a feed from Matthew Gard and from close range beat Unger to the top of the net.
Unlike the previous meeting of the clubs, last Friday in Red Deer where the Warriors had eight power plays in a 5-2 win, the Rebels were comparatively disciplined. The Warriors were zero-for-three with a man advantage, while the Rebels were zero-for-four.
“It gives you a chance,” said Walser of limiting Moose Jaw’s power play opportunities. “You give them eight, these guys are too good on it.
“You can’t give a team eight. It doesn’t matter which team, it’s as simple as that. It’s a tough league, a tough conference, a tough league in general. You can’t give a team eight power plays, they all have players who can hurt you.”
Wutzke, selected as the game’s first star, made 21 saves.
“He was outstanding,” said Walser. “He was tracking pucks and he gave us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask and he was great.”
As was the Rebels’ work ethic.
“I just liked our compete tonight,” said Walser. “I thought we forechecked hard and we were hitting smart. We were doing all the little things throughout the game.
“I was really happy with the group, but we’ll move on, get a day of rest tomorrow and get ready for the next one.”
The Rebels will continue their four-game Eastern Division road trip with a Friday match against the Saskatoon Blades. Red Deer will conclude the trip Saturday versus the Prince Albert Raiders.
Notable: Formanek and Firkus were selected as the second and third stars of the game . . . Unger made 24 saves . . . The Rebels were without two top six forwards in Kalan Lind and Carson Latimer. Lind suffered an upper body injury in the second period of Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at Brandon and is listed as day-to-day. Zane Saab drew into the lineup in Lind’s place. Latimer, meanwhile, is out indefinitely with a lower body injury . . . Attendance at the Moose Jaw Events Centre was 2,713.
(Photos by Nick Pettigrew)
