Rebels rebound for Game 3 win over host Hitmen
Rebels 4 Hitmen 2
CALGARY — The Red Deer Rebels are back in the driver’s seat.
The Rebels got a late empty-net goal from Kai Uchacz to seal a 4-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen Monday night and regain home-ice advantage in the WHL Eastern Conference quarter-final.
Red Deer leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Wednesday back at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome. Game 5 will go Friday at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
As was the case in the first two games, Monday’s contest was a physical affair.
“You don’t expect anything different. It’s playoff hockey,” said Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk. “That’s what it’s all about — fighting for every inch of ice.”
The exception Monday was a first period that produced three goals — two by the visitors — as opposed to the opening frame of Games 1 and 2 that featured just a single marker in total.
The Hitmen struck first when Carson Wetsch, alone in front, converted a backhand feed from Carter Yakemchuk.
The Rebels responded in short order as Matteo Fabrizi’s wrist shot from the point beat a partially screened Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters, and Uchacz gave Red Deer a 2-1 lead just 49 seconds later with a backhand from a goalmouth scramble.
Frantisek Formanek gave Red Deer a 3-1 lead 46 seconds into the middle frame with an off-speed offering from the low slot following a sweet feed from Uchacz.
The Hitmen cut the deficit to one just under 13 minutes later with the first power play goal of the series, Carter MacAdams jamming home a loose puck after goaltender Kyle Kelsey had denied Ethan Moore from in tight.
Both teams ran into penalty problems in the middle period, with the Rebels forced into four short-handed situations — including a five-on-three for over a minute — and the Hitmen being assessed back-to-back infractions late in the frame.
“I thought our first and third periods weren’t too bad and then in between it was four-on-four, power play and penalty kill,” said Konowalchuk. “It just makes for a more scrambly game.
“The second period penalties got us out of our flow. You make some big penalty kills, then you’re on the power play and it just gets you out of the flow.”
The Rebels carried the play for the vast majority of the final period before the Hitmen applied some pressure with Peters on the bench for the final two minutes. Uchacz erased any doubts with his empty-net tally with 36.2 seconds remaining, his 12th goal in 11 games versus Calgary this season.
While the Hitmen were able to cash in with a man advantage, going one-for six, the Rebels were zero-for-six on the power play and are oh-for-16 in the series.
“They have a good penalty kill,” said Konowalchuk. “We’re not at our best. We’ve had different injections of guys with Kinger (Ben King) coming back. It was a little bit different (first) unit there too, but they have a good PK.
“We can certainly be better. I believe in the guys and we’ll just keep working at it.”
Kelsey made 36 saves, including a key second-period stop on Sean Tschigerl. Peters took a goal away from Talon Brigley on a one-timer off a two-on-one break in the third period and finished with 42 saves.
Notable: Ben King returned to the Rebels lineup for the first time in the series. The veteran forward, who led the WHL last season with 52 goals, missed the first two games with an upper body injury . . . Red Deer was without forward Craig Armstrong, who completed the second half of a two-game suspension for a slew foot penalty in Game 1 . . . The Hitmen were minus the services of their captain and top forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who was injured in the second period of Saturday’s second game, along with fellow 20-year-old forward Jacob Wright (lower body) . . . The three stars: (1) Uchacz, (2) Peters and (3) Kelsey . . . A sixth game, if needed, will go April 9 in Calgary and a seventh contest, if required, will be played two days later at the Centrium.
