Shorthanded Rebels start slow, fall short in Lethbridge
Hurricanes 5 Rebels 2
LETHBRIDGE — In the eyes of head coach Dave Struch, the Red Deer Rebels were a mite slow out of the gate Friday.
“The first 20 minutes. We didn’t start on time, which is something we’d done the last three games,” he said following a 5-2 WHL loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes witnessed by 4,761 fans at the Enmax Centre.
“We have to give Lethbridge credit, they were hungry in the first period. So that put us back on our heels.”
The ‘Canes struck first when Leo Braillard broke over the blueline and from high in the right circle beat goaltender Chase Wutzke to the far corner of the net.
The Rebels responded shortly after with a power play tally from captain Kai Uchacz, who deposited a cross-crease pass from Jhett Larson with Red Deer enjoying a two-man advantage.
The home side restored its lead late in the opening period when Landen Ward converted a rebound. Rebels forward Talon Brigley pounced on a loose puck and notched his 19th of the season midway through the second period.
The tying goal was assisted by Carson Birnie, who won a puck battle in front of the net, and Ollie Josephson, who made a great feed to Birnie.
But that was it for the visitors, who matched their hosts in shots at 19-19 over the final 40 minutes but gave up three unanswered goals.
“Honestly I thought we competed really good in the second and third periods but the start was the problem,” said Struch. “The fatigue that we got ourselves into chasing the first 20 minutes put us in a situation we hadn’t been in the last few games.
“When you get chasing the puck like that you can get a little bit tired, but give our guys credit, they stayed engaged and played hard for the final 40. But it was something where we couldn’t get ourselves back into a lead and give us more energy, something we could build off.”
Miguel Marques notched the eventual winning goal early in the final period with a near carbon copy of Braillard’s tally.
From there, Brayden Edwards snuck a shot past Wutzke at the 15:44 mark and Dylan Sydor added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
The Rebels, to their credit, held the ‘Canes to 27 shots despite starting the game with just five defencemen and then losing veteran rearguard Matteo Fabrizi to injury in the opening period.
Rookie forward Evan Smith, as a result, moved back to the blueline.
“He did a good job for us and the rest of the D did a good job as well,” said Struch.
“When you have five (defencemen) and lose one, as much as it should have put us back on our heels our guys battled through it. For me, it’s something we can learn from. We got behind, we stayed engaged and we never gave up . . . there are some really important things we can get into down the stretch run.
“I was proud of the guys for pushing themselves and staying engaged in the game.”
Coach Struch after tonight’s setback in Lethbridge #RDREBELS I #WHL pic.twitter.com/xh0kULhCmS
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 16, 2024
Notable: The Rebels host the Hurricanes Saturday, then close out their regular season schedule with a Wednesday visit to Swift Current and a two-game weekend set with the Edmonton Oil Kings . . . Red Deer was one-for-three on the power play Friday, the Hurricanes zero-for-one . . . Wutzke made 22 saves while Harrison Meneghin stopped 25 shots for Lethbridge . . . Forward Beckett Hamilton, the Rebels’ first pick in last year’s WHL Prospects Draft, made his WHL debut . . . Forwards Jeramiah Roberts, Frantisek Formanek and Carson Latimer, along with blue liners Elias Carmichael and Quentin Bourne, were all unavailable for Friday’s game due to injuries.
