Third period burst pushes Rebels to 5-4 shootout victory over Blades
A dramatic third period scoring burst pushed the Rebels to an eventual, and eventful, 5-4 shootout victory over the conference leading Blades Wednesday night in Saskatoon.
Jaxon Fuder and Matthew Gard each scored in the five-round shootout, as Chase Wutzke denied four of the Blades’ five shooters.
The game added another colourful chapter to the Rebels and Blades recent rivalry, as the Rebels snap the Blades’ (17-6-1-2) three-game win streak. With the “W”, the Rebels have earned back-to-back win’s on the road, extending their overall streak to four-straight and improving their season record to 14-10-1-2.
STATS STORY
Hunter Mayo (RD) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Brandon Lisowsky (SASK) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Tyler Parr (SASK) – 1 goal, 1 assist, game-tying goal
Matthew Gard (RD) – shootout winning goal
HOW IT HAPPENED
It took just 16 seconds to start the scoring in Wednesday evening’s contest. Saskatoon’s duo of Ben Saunderson and Brandon Lisowsky got the ball rolling early as Saunderson dangled Red Deer’s defence to slide the puck to Lisowsky who beat Red Deer’s goaltender, Chase Wutzke, with a low tap-in.
About 12 minutes later, it was Lisowsky who sent a spin pass to Ben Riche in the high slot to make it 2-0 for the Blades.
It was after that goal that the Rebels called a timeout for a badly needed ‘reset.’ The move by head coach Dave Struch paid off.
Still in the first period, Trae Wilke drove the puck wide and deep into the Blades zone, with all eyes on him, he found Beckett Hamilton on on the doorstep and the rookie tipped the puck past Saskatoon netminder Ethan McCallum for his seventh goal of the season, and his first WHL goal in his hometown.
Hamilton showing out in front of his hometown crowd! 😎#RDREBELS | #WHL https://t.co/4gZAE0VKVx
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 5, 2024
Saskatoon restored its two-goal lead in period two as Lukas Hansen walked out of the corner to put one high glove-side past Wutzke to make it 3-1.
Cue the comeback.
Special teams brought the game within one in the third period as as Jaxon Fuder fed Kalan Lind for a power play one-timer and the Nashville Predators prospect’s long awaited first goal of the year.
One goal at a time!#RDREBELS | #WHL https://t.co/tQpcf2GTX9
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 5, 2024
Just over three minutes later, Hunter Mayo snuck down to retrieve a loose puck at the top of the circle and fired a quick snapshot top-shelf and just like that, the game was tied.
Pucks will fly when Mayo is on the ice! 💪#RDREBELS | #WHL https://t.co/xQ7OtBeCmU
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 5, 2024
The Rebels earned their first lead of the game late in the third when Derek Thurston teed one up from the left point for his second goal in as many games to make it 4-3.
We were "Thursty" for this one! #RDREBELS | #WHL https://t.co/V2gLp5L0Sx
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 5, 2024
If this story ended there, it wouldn’t be Rebels versus Blades hockey.
With less than two minutes to go and the Blades on the power play, Tyler Parr capitalized on a rebound to send this game to overtime.
Quality chances flowed both ways in overtime.
Wutzke shut down two breakaway chances by Saskatoon’s Tanner Molendyk, who is invited to Team Canada’s World Junior camp. Molendyk then drew a Rebels penalty and came close to ending things on the ensuing power play. But Red Deer survived and “Wednesday Night in the Dub” at SaskTel Centre was headed to a shootout.
In the shootout…
Rebels:
- Lind – X
- Fuder – Goal
- Wilke – X
- Hamilton – X
- Gard – Goal
Blades:
- Lewandowski – X
- Lisowsky – X
- Parr – Goal
- Siepmann – X
- Riche – X
The Rebels completed the comeback and earned their first shootout win of the season in three attempts. Saskatoon outshot Red Deer 33-27 on the night and both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play.
THREE STARS
1. Gard (RD)
2. Lisowsky (SASK)
3. Mayo (RD)
WHAT THEY SAID
Asst. Coach Beddoes on tonight’s come from behind win in Saskatoon #RDREBELS I #WHL pic.twitter.com/dNCPt07mWv
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 5, 2024
NOTEWORTHY
Mayo now has goals in three-straight after being held off the scoresheet in 10-straight … Wilke has assists in three games in a row … Rebels scratches for the game were Matteo Fabrizi (upper), Ollie Josephson (upper), Nolan Schmidt (scratch), Kasper Pikkarainen (lower), and Jhett Larson (upper) … Red Deer moved past idle Calgary and Lethbridge into third place in the WHL Eastern Conference standings with 31 points.
NEXT UP
Red Deer continues their eastern road trip to Brandon for a Friday night match-up at Westoba Place against the Wheat Kings. Puck drop is 6 p.m. MT (106.7 REWIND Radio, CHL TV).
