Wutzke, Uchacz, penalty killers shine as Rebels blank Blades
Rebels 5 Blades 0
SASKATOON — As one of the WHL’s lowest scoring teams this season, the Red Deer Rebels have been anything but opportunistic.
On too many nights, the Rebels have failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities despite often outshooting their opponents.
The Rebels flipped the script Tuesday at the SaskTel Centre, blanking the Canadian Hockey League’s second-ranked team, the Saskatoon Blades, 5-0 despite being outshot 36-20 in front of 3,512 fans.
Chase Wutzke posted his first career shutout and Kai Uchacz scored twice and picked up a pair of assists as the visitors were a perfect four-for-four on the penalty kill, thanks in large part to their goaltender.
The Blades manufactured more than a third of their shots with a man advantage, but the Rebels penalty killers were up to the challenge while Wutzke shut the door.
“You always count on your goalie on the penalty kill,” said Red Deer head coach Derrick Walser. “We know they have an outstanding power play. I thought our game plan on how to defend it was pretty good, we didn’t make too many mistakes.
“We really figured it out. Our killers did a great job, they battled their hearts out and we kept them off the scoresheet.”
As it turned out, Frantisek Formanek’s 18th of the season 6:40 into the contest was the only goal the Rebels needed. Uchacz pounced on a turnover outside the Blades blueline and fed Formanek, who slipped in behind the Saskatoon defence and beat netminder Austin Elliott through the five-hole.
Ollie Josephson doubled Red Deer’s lead near the midway point of the second period, accepting a rink-wide corner pass from Uchacz and lifting a rising shot past Elliott. For Uchacz it was his 200th career point.
Talon Brigley made it 3-0 just under four minutes later, burying his 15th of the season to cap a three-on-two-rush, and Uchacz scored his 39th late in the period after he and Jhett Larson teamed up to win a puck battle just outside of the crease.
The Rebels captain then potted his 40th of the season at 11:10 of the final frame, again taking advantage of a giveaway in the Blades zone. Uchacz, from 40 feet out, fired a shot with the puck on edge and it glanced off the glove of goaltender Evan Gardner and into the net.
The Blades exerted most of their pressure and created the majority of their scoring chances on the power play, failing to mount much of an attack with the teams playing five a side.
“Five-on-five I thought we played an excellent game. We didn’t give up much,” said Walser. “We know they’re a high octane team that can score and I thought we limited their chances five-on-five.
“We played with a lot of passion and a lot of heart tonight and it was good to see us get rewarded for that.”
The Rebels put the wraps on their brief East Division trip Wednesday versus the Prince Albert Raiders, then return home to face the Swift Current Broncos and Calgary Hitmen Friday and Saturday.
“We just have to reset, make sure we’re level headed going into tomorrow’s game and try and play the same way,” said Walser.
Coach Walser on tonight’s big win in Saskatoon!#RDREBELS I #WHL pic.twitter.com/jlzGMp0Kus
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) February 28, 2024
Notable: The three stars: (1) Wutzke, (2) Uchacz and (3) Formanek, who had an assist to go with his goal . . . Elliott stopped nine of the 12 shots he faced before being replaced by Gardner following Red Deer’s third goal. Gardner blocked six of eight shots . . . Red Deer was zero-for-four on the power play . . . The Blades dropped their second-straight home game for the first time this season.
