Rebels once again come up short in extra time

Oil Kings 4 Rebels 3 (OT)
EDMONTON — Extra time hasn’t been a good time for the Red Deer Rebels this season.
The Rebels lost a seventh consecutive Western Hockey League game in which more than 60 minutes were required, dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Thursday.
Trey Fix-Wolansky notched the winner before 8,057 fans at Rogers Place, roofing a shot past Red Deer netminder Ethan Anders at 4:48 of the extra frame.
“We just lost our coverage. If you lose your coverage, especially to a player like Wolansky, he’s going to score,” said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.
Still, the Rebels boss was much more inclined to praise his troops than was the case following Wednesday’s 3-1 home-ice loss to the Oil Kings, in which the Rebels were painfully slow out of the gate.
“We played well here tonight,” said Sutter. “We didn’t give up much at all, they might have had eight or nine scoring chances all night.
“Last night we had Christmas legs but tonight we played more like we did before we went home for the (Christmas) break. Everybody was much better and our team play and our attention to detail were much better.”
Brian Harris gave the home side an early lead, breaking in alone and scoring to Anders’ glove side 2:31 into the contest, but Rebels captain Grayson Pawlenchuk notched an equalizer at 14:01 on a redirection of a point shot by Brandon Schuldhaus.
David Kope restored Edmonton’s lead with the lone marker of the second period, pouncing on a turnover at the Oil Kings blueline, breaking up ice, cutting wide on defenceman Dawson Barteaux and stuffing the puck home from close range.
Barteaux pulled the visitors even once again with his first-ever WHL goal. With Edmonton’s Tomas Soustal off for hooking, Barteaux’s rising blast from the blueline beat netminder Josh Dechaine through a screen at 6:02 of the third period.
The Rebels then assumed their only lead of the evening 90 seconds later as Mason McCarty bolted out from the end boards and found a gaping net with Dechaine out of position following a play in front of the goal.
Conner McDonald forced overtime at 11:20, slipping a rebound under Anders’ pad.
Red Deer had a wonderful opportunity to connect in overtime but Dechaine stopped Schuldhaus on a breakaway. The Oil Kings stopper finished with 23 saves, one more than Anders.
The Rebels return to action on Saturday versus the host Medicine Hat Tigers.
“We just have to try to find a way to win games. We’re just on the other side of the line right now,” said Sutter. “We’re below the line and we have to get above it.”
Notable: With ace forwards Kristian Reichel (at world junior championship) and Brandon Hagel (upper body injury) out of the Red Deer lineup, Sutter went with numerous first-year players on Thursday. “I liked our young kids with the way they played tonight, all of them. Our 16- and 17-year-olds were good here tonight,” said Sutter, who doesn’t expect Hagel to return until perhaps mid-January . . . Rookie forward Arshdeep Bains, who picked up his second WHL assist on Thursday, will stay with the Rebels for the remainder of the season. He was called up from the midget AAA ranks just prior to the holiday break . . . The Rebels were one-for-four on the power play and four-for-four on the penalty kill . . . Selected as the game’s three stars were (1) Barteaux, (2) Kope and (3) Oil Kings forward Davis Koch . . . Red Deer’s next home game is next Wednesday against the Moose Jaw Warriors.