Rebels smother Tigers in 3-1 road victory
Rebels 3 Tigers 1
MEDICINE HAT — If there is such a thing as a perfect road game, as so often referenced, then the Red Deer Rebels may have pulled it off in grand style Friday night.
The Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Medicine Hat Tigers, then put the clamps on the home side and emerged with a 3-1 WHL victory witnessed by 3,042 fans at Co-op Place.
“Five-on-five we were excellent tonight,” said Rebels head coach Derrick Walser, who credited his team’s defence for keeping the high-octane Tigers at bay. “Our D corps was excellent winning battles and making good exits and smart decisions with the puck.
“We got into some penalty trouble. But that’s life, I’m not going to criticize the referees. We just did a good job. We grinded it out.”
The Rebels grabbed a lead they never relinquished when Kalan Lind scored on a redirect of a point shot by Hunter Mayo at 12:49 of the first period with Red Deer on the power play.
Ollie Josephson, with his fifth of the season, made it 2-0 for the Rebels at 9:24 of the second period.
The Tigers weren’t able to mount much in the way of sustained pressure but finally broke through on their fifth power play as Gavin McKenna beat goaltender Chase Wutzke at 16:29 of the final frame with a shot through heavy traffic from the high slot.
That was it for the home side however, and Rebels captain Kai Uchacz sealed the deal with an empty net goal with 74 seconds remaining.
Both teams were one-for-five on the power play with the majority of the Tigers’ scoring chances coming with a man advantage.
“I believe that five-on-five they might have had 15 shots,” said Walser.
“We did a great job of eliminating their odd man rushes, our forwards were excellent with their back pressure.
“It was a complete team effort again and we believe in that all the time. Everyone was on the same page and when you do that you can win. That’s the belief we’re generating right now — we believe we can win.”
The Rebels are clearly a different team than the one that struggled through a tough stretch early in the season.
“Adversity at the start of the year is always a good thing and we’re finding a way to dial in now,” said Walser.
The Rebels pulled out the win that moved them within three points of the front-running Tigers in the Central Divison despite being without top pairing defenceman Mats Lindgren and forwards Carson Latimer, Matthew Gard and Carson Birnie.
“It’s next man up. Every team is banged up and we’re just grinding through,” said Walser, whose club ran its winning streak to six games.
Red Deer will close out a busy week by welcoming the Prince Albert Raiders to the Peavey Mart Centrium Saturday.
“We have a new day tomorrow,” said Walser. “We have another game and we have to make sure we’re ready to go.”
Coach Walser on tonight’s 3-1 win in Medicine Hat #RDREBELS I #WHL pic.twitter.com/efofEcYz7O
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) January 20, 2024
Notable: Chase Wutzke turned aside 30 shots in the Rebels net to record his 12th win of the season. He also earned third star honours for his performance. Ethan McCallum made 21 saves in the Tigers net . . . Lind, who had an assist to go with his goal, was selected as the game’s first star while McKenna was second star . . . Mayo recorded two assists for the winners.
(Photo by Randy Feere/Medicine Hat Tigers)
