Rebels stellar from start to finish in win over Americans
Rebels 3 Americans 1
Derrick Walser respected the 3,422 fans who were on hand at the Peavey Mart Centrium Friday nearly as much as his team’s performance.
“I really appreciate the people who came out tonight. It’s the coldest day I’ve ever seen in my life,” said the Red Deer Rebels head coach following a 3-1 WHL win over the Tri-City Americans.
On a brutally cold evening, the Rebels came out with a heated attack and carried the play the entire contest. The final score flattered the visitors considering the shot count — 49-19 in favour of the home side.
“We played for 60 minutes and that was the challenge tonight — we wanted to play a complete game and we did a real good job with our puck placement,” said Walser. “We had a good dump so we could create our forecheck and I thought everyone contributed something tonight real special.”
The Rebels needed all of 29 seconds to open the scoring as Carson Birnie, from the side of the net, took a corner pass from Samuel Drancak and slipped the puck past netminder Lukas Matecha.
“The first goal of the game was a great start for that line,” said Walser. “Birnie just does something simple and gets us going. You have to score ugly sometimes, they can’t always be pretty.”
The Rebels doubled their lead late in the opening frame when Kalan Lind went hard to the net and was stopped by Matecha, with the rebound glancing off the skate of Talon Brigley and into the net.
The Americans responded with a second period goal off the stick of Deagan MacMillan, whose one-timer from the left circle beat goaltender Chase Wutzke, who was once again solid while posting his ninth win of the season.
But with the Rebels on the power play, defenceman Mats Lindgren restored Red Deer’s two-goal lead with a slapshot from the point late in the middle frame.
“We came out really hard and we never let off the gas pedal,” said Lindgren. “We played really well as a team, we stuck to our systems and what happened tonight is kind of what you get when we play our way.”
The third period was scoreless despite the Rebels aiming 11 shots at goaltender Armaan Kaila, who stopped all 12 pucks he faced after replacing Matecha who was injured late in period two.
The heavy volume of shots was by design, said Walser.
“Sometimes when you’re struggling to score you try and walk the puck to the net,” he said. “That was our main focus, just trying to generate those shots.”
Added Lindgren: “For sure, especially from the defence in high volumes. It was a big part of it, when you get pucks to the net good things happen. We kind of focused on that and it worked.”
Walser was particularly impressed with his team considering he was expecting a tough contest versus a Tri-City squad that dropped a 6-5 decision to the Edmonton Oil Kings Thursday despite holding a 38-20 advantage in shots.
“I watched them play last night in Edmonton. They battled, they never quit,” said Walser. “It was a good matchup for us. They were going to push us and bang with us and it was great for the guys with their response.”
Next up for the Rebels is a home game versus the Oil Kings Saturday.
“Like coach said, we can’t dwell on this game too much,” said Lindgren. “The game’s over, we can enjoy it a bit but the key is to refocus and get ready for Edmonton tomorrow.”
Notable: Wutzke finished with 18 saves. Matecha stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced before being replaced by Kaila . . .The three stars: (1) Lindgren, (2) Lind, who picked up a pair of assists, and (3) Rebels captain Kai Uchacz, who assisted on Lindgren’s goal . . . Rebels netminder Rhett Stoesser sat out with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Taylor Tabashniuk, a sixth-round pick of the Rebels in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, dressed as Wutzke’s backup. Tabashniuk, a Regina native, boasts a 15-3 record with his hometown U18AAA Pats Canadians this season, along with a 2.18 goals-against average and .912 save percentage . . . The NHL Central Scouting Bureau mid-season rankings were released Friday and four Rebels are on the list. Ollie Josephson is ranked 43rd among North American skaters for this year’s NHL entry draft, while Samuel Drancak is No. 221 on the list. Meanwhile, both Wutzke (18th) and Stoesser (28th) are ranked among North American goaltenders.
(Photos by Taylor Lachance)
