Rebels hold off Wheat Kings to extend win streak to nine
Rebels 5 Wheat Kings 3
Nine is just divine.
One night after extending their WHL win streak to eight games, the Red Deer Rebels added to their run with a 5-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings before 5,008 fans Saturday at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
The win didn’t come easy, as the visitors cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 in the third period on goals by Nolan Flamand, on the power play, and Rylan Roersma, who worked out from behind the net and beat netminder Chase Wutzke with a high shot from low in the left circle.
Rebels captain Kai Uchacz notched the eventual winner three minutes later on a breakaway after Jhett Larson bounced the puck off the boards from just inside the Red Deer blueline and found his teammate behind the Brandon defence.
“I knew him or Latty (Carson Latimer) would get there but my first thought was just get it off the boards just to get through the win,” said Larson, who also tallied his 10th goal of the season and was selected as the game’s first star.
The goal restored somewhat of a cushion for the Rebels, but the lead was again whittled to a single marker when Brett Hyland scored from the edge of the crease at the 17:26 mark.
But Uchacz sealed the deal with an empty net goal with 1:18 remaining, finding the open cage with a backhand from centre ice.
“We keep on finding ways to win these games which shows a lot about our character and just how everyone on the team has a role,” said Larson. “We’re just a tight knit group right now and it’s feeling good.”
While they started somewhat slow, the Rebels took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals by rookie Evan Smith, his third, and Larson.
Smith struck from close range off a feed from Mats Lindgren and Larson found the top of the net — to the blocker side of goaltender Ethan Eskit — with a seeing eye shot from the left circle with Red Deer on the power play late in the period.
“Honestly, we probably had six or seven shots on that power play that were blocked,” said Larson. “We were getting tired and I just threw it short side and it went in. Their D was taking away the far side pretty good.”
Carson Birnie extended the Rebels’ lead to 3-0 at 14:05 of the second period, jamming the puck under Eskit who made the original save on Samuel Drancak on a two-on-one break.
The stage was then set for a wild third period in which the Wheat Kings, coming off an 8-0 loss the night before in Calgary, played with a healthy dose of desperation.
“They came hard. They’re a good team over there,” said Larson. “They didn’t have the best night last night and we knew they would come hard.
“At the end they showed how much they wanted it but we wanted it more.”
As Larson suggested, the Rebels were well aware that the visitors would play a determined, persistent style following Friday’s humiliation.
“We talked about it this morning and before the game that they were going to come and push hard after they had a tough night like they did the night before,” said head coach Derrick Walser.
“We survived the first five minutes and then we found our game at the end of the first period and a bit of the second.
“In the third period it was right back to the mistakes and an undisciplined penalty, a selfish penalty. But we’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
Notable: The Rebels now own the longest win streak in the WHL this season . . . Eskit turned aside 36 shots while Wutzke made 27 saves, including a handful of dandies during a second period Brandon power play. In addition, he slid across to rob Jayden Wiens in the first period, while Eskit also made several saves of the difficult variety . . . The Rebels were one-for-four on the power play, the Wheat Kings one-for-three . . . The three stars: (1) Larson, (2) Roersma and (3) Drancak, who garnered two assists . . . Lindgren also had two helpers . . . The Rebels will depart Tuesday on a five-game East Division trip over seven days. Red Deer will open the jaunt in Prince Albert Wednesday and will also make stops in Brandon, Moose Jaw, Regina and Swift Current . . . The Rebels’ next home game is Feb. 9 versus the Moose Jaw Warriors.
