Rebels gut one out for hard fought win over Broncos

Just 10 days after the Rebels took an overtime win in Swift Current, the Broncos visited the Marchant Crane Centrium looking for revenge. It would be Rebels, however, who would get the result Saturday afternoon, winning by a score of 3-1. They now have points in five of their last six outings.

Red Deer controlled play in the first two periods, outshooting Swift Current 32-11 through 40 minutes, and led 2-1 for their efforts. The Broncos pushed back in the third, but Matthew Kondro, on a day where the Rebels traded goalie Chase Wutzke to Moose Jaw, stood tall in making all 13 saves asked of him in the final frame.

“Really good, I think. You know, we don’t broadcast it, but half our roster has been sick for quite some time. We lost two guys relatively early (today), and we found a way to get the job done. And I loved our start, carried the play, and you could tell we’re running out of gas at the end, but we found a way to get it
done defensively,” said Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid.

STATS STORY:

Beckett Hamilton (RD) – 1 goal

Parker Rondeau (SC) – 1 goal

Matthew Kondro (RD) – 23 saves, win

Joey Rocha (SC) – 36 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Beckett Hamilton opened the scoring for the Rebels at the 8:54 mark of the opening period. After Broncos netminder Joey Rocha stopped a Kohen Lodge breakaway, Lodge was able to get the puck back in front of the net to Hamilton to tap it home for his fourth of the season.

Late in the period, Rebels forward Matthew Gard was given a major penalty and game misconduct for checking to the head on Broncos forward Anthony Wilson, who did not return to the game.

Landon MacSwain was the beneficiary of a favourable bounce, as he doubled the Rebels’ lead to 2-0 four minutes into the second period, when an Aleksey Chichkin point shot deflected off a Broncos defenceman and right onto the tape of MacSwain, who had an open net in which to deposit the puck.

After a scrum behind the Rebels’ net, the puck squeaked out into the high slot to Parker Rondeau, who snapped his second goal of the season to get the Broncos on the board, and cut the Rebels’ lead to 2-1 with four minutes to play in the second period.

The only offence in the final period came courtesy of Samuel Drancak, who capped off the game with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Swift Current was 0/2 on the power play, while the Rebels were 0/3. Matthew Kondro made 23 saves in net for the Rebels, while Rocha made 36 stops for Swift Current.

BRANDT THREE STARS:

1. Beckett Hamilton (RD)
2. Joey Rocha (SC)
3. Aleksey Chichkin (RD)

WHAT THEY SAID:

Head coach Marc Habscheid

Owner/President/General Manager Brent Sutter 

NEXT UP:

The Rebels are back at it Wednesday as they head north up the QEII to battle the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place. Puck drop goes at 7 p.m. on Victory+ and 106.7 Rewind Radio. It’s the start of two weeks away from the Marchant Crane Centrium as the Rebels make way for AgriTrade.