Turnovers cost Rebels in home ice loss to Wild
Wild 3 Rebels 2
The Rebels had every intention of taming the Wenatchee Wild Saturday night.
Unfortunately, they were a little too loose with the puck and could not corral the visitors, who hung on for a 3-2 WHL victory in front of 4,539 customers at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
“Taking care of the puck . . . turnovers. We had way too many turnovers,” said Rebels head coach Derrick Walser. “It was something that was preached before, you have to take care of that puck.”
The Wild got a goal from affiliate player Caelan Joudrey 6:47 into the game when he tipped home a point shot by Graham Sward.
Frantisek Formanek evened the count just over four minutes later. Matteo Fabrizi fired from the point, Samuel Drancak failed to cash the rebound, but Formanek buried the second save off the pad of goaltender Brendan Gee.
Miles Cooper restored a lead the visitors never relinquished late in the period — a power play marker — by batting a bouncing puck past Rebels netminder Chase Wutzke.
“We were just too soft around our net,” said Walser. “We weren’t willing to battle hard enough there.”
Following a scoreless second period, the Wild got the eventual winner from Kenta Isogai, who carried the puck through the neutral zone and over the blueline, cut into the low slot and beat Wutzke with a wrist shot at 3:20 of the final frame.
The Rebels outshot their guests 8-2 in the third period and pulled to within one when Matthew Gard won a battle in the corner and passed out to Drancak, who made no mistake with a quick release high to Gee’s glove side.
Red Deer carried the play through most the final frame and pulled Wutzke with just over a minute remaining after the Wild were penalized, but couldn’t cash in.
“Right now it’s peaks and valleys,” said Walser. “When we get all in synch and keep it simple, put pucks behind the D and use our tenacity and forecheck, we’re pretty effective.
“Tonight we didn’t take care of pucks and it cost us.”
Notable: Gee, who might have been the visitors’ best player, made 29 saves, stopping a handful of pucks that he never saw . . . Wutzke turned aside 22 shots . . . The three stars: (1) Isogai, who had an assist to go with his goal, (2) Drancak, with a goal and assist, and (3) Sward . . . The Rebels will head east Monday for a two-game trip, stopping in Saskatoon Tuesday to meet the league leading Blades and then facing the Prince Albert Raiders 24 hours later . . . Red Deer will then return home to take on the Calgary Hitmen and Swift Current Broncos Friday and Saturday . . . The Broncos moved to four points clear of the Rebels in the race for fourth place in the conference with a 4-3 overtime win over the Medicine Hat Tigers Saturday . . . The latest Red Deer Rebels bobblehead, presented by Carpet One Red Deer, will be unveiled on Tuesday. Just 1,500 of these bobbleheads will be available to fans attending next Friday’s home game versus Swift Current. Several notable Rebels alumni – including this year’s bobblehead player himself – will be in attendance that night. Stay tuned! . . . The winning Rebels entry for this year’s Real Canadian Superstore Jersey Design contest will also be unveiled next week. Since the contest was first introduced during the 2020-21 season, the CHL and Real Canadian Superstore have raised over $375,000 for President’s Choice Children’s Charity. Each year, fans aged 16 and under are encouraged to submit their jersey design. The Rebels will wear this year’s winning design when they host the Calgary Hitmen next Saturday at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
(Photos by Dwayne Sampson)
