Rebels sputter in home loss to Oil Kings
Oil Kings 3 Rebels 1
There are no free spots on the Western Hockey League bingo card.
The Red Deer Rebels were reminded of that Friday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium in a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings, the last place team in the Eastern Conference.
“You don’t take anyone lightly, you have to play hard,” said Rebels head coach Derrick Walser following the disappointing outcome witnessed by 4,097 fans, Red Deer’s eighth loss in their last nine games.
“You have to play hard for 60 minutes and right now we’re starting three minutes late into a period and it’s costing us.”
The Rebels never got untracked against the team that’s 27 points behind them in the conference and Central Division standings.
Gavin Hodnett scored on a deflection 3:39 into the contest and the count held until Kalan Lind deflected home a Hunter Mayo point shot past netminder Kolby Hay for a power play tally 3:06 into period two.
But that was it for the home side, who gave up the eventual winning goal — a man advantage marker — two minutes into the third period when Smyth Rebman buried a rebound.
“You get on your toes in the third and take a penalty 30 seconds into the period . . . it cost us tonight,” said Walser.
The Rebels pressed over the second half of the period and held an 11-9 shots advantage over the final 20 minutes but couldn’t find an equalizer.
Instead, Rebman scored into an empty net with less than a second remaining.
The Rebels were one-for-four on the power play while the visitors were one-for-six with a man advantage.
“To be honest, they played like men, we didn’t play like men until the last 10 minutes of the third,” said Walser. “You have to start the game on time and you can’t take stupid penalties. It’s a broken record.”
The game ended with a series of scrums as the Rebels were clearly frustrated with the outcome.
“It’s a game, it’s a man’s sport,” said Walser. “You have to go to the net, you have to get your nose dirty . . . you’re going to get bloody.
“They played like men in front of their net and we didn’t do enough. We were too busy complaining about it versus manning up and competing with them.”
The teams meet again Saturday in Edmonton.
“They came and played, they came hard,” said Walser of the Oil Kings. “You respect them, they stuck to their systems and we have to make sure we man up and are on our toes and ready to go tomorrow.
“I expect them to show up and play like men tomorrow.”
Notable: The Rebels lost overage forward Carson Latimer to a possible season-ending injury Thursday when he suffered a broken jaw in practice. The hard-luck 20-year-old returned to the club in late January after missing nearly two months with a broken tibia . . . Rebels forward Jhett Larson played his 200th WHL game Friday . . . Kai Uchacz needs one goal to become the fifth player in Rebels franchise history to score 100 with the club . . . Hay made 30 saves for the Oil Kings while Rebels goaltender Rhett Stoesser turned aside 27 shots . . . The three stars: (1) Oil Kings forward Gracyn Sawchyn, who assisted on Edmonton’s first goal, (2) Hodnett and (3) Mayo . . . The Rebels will host the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a Family Day contest Monday at 2 p.m. The game will double as Sockey Day in Red Deer, in support of United Way Central Alberta. Fans attending the game will receive a pair of socks, provided by generous community partners, or bring their own to toss on the ice during the game. The socks will be gathered by volunteers and distributed through various agencies to people in need throughout central Alberta . . . In addition, fans are encouraged to stick around after the game to help ‘paint the ice’. Paint and brushes will be supplied.
(Photos by Taylor Lachance)
