Division Crown
The provincial rival Oil Kings and Rebels, who could potentially square off in the first round of the WHL playoffs, waged an epic war in front of the capacity crowd, with Red Deer holding off a late Edmonton charge to win 4-3 in the second last game of the regular season.
With the fantastic fan frenzy behind them, the Oil Kings jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 6:20 into the first period when Travis Ewanyk burst down the left wing and rifled a wrist shot past Rebels goalie Darcy Kuemper. There were also three fights in the opening 6:34, as Ryan Dech, Keegan Lowe and Colton Stephenson dropped the gloves with the Rebels’ Locke Muller, Colin Archer and Turner Elson, respectively.
Red Deer responded with four straight goals to go up 4-1 early in the third period, with potential 2011 NHL first-overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallying a goal and an assist, while Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Byron Froese picked up two goals and a helper. The Oil Kings didn’t go down without a fight, though, as T.J. Foster and leading scorer Dylan Wruck cut the lead to 4-3, but the home side couldn’t net the equalizer and lost by one.
Friday’s results didn’t provide much in the way of playoff clarity, as the Oil Kings (31-33-2-5) remain in seventh in the Eastern Conference with 69 points, while the Brandon Wheat Kings (31-31-1-8) lost to the Moose Jaw Warriors in a shootout to sit in sixth with 71 points.
Red Deer clinched second place with the win over Edmonton to give them 102 points. The Oil Kings and Rebels close out the regular season with the second half of their heated home-and-home on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer. Another Rebels win, or a Wheat Kings win over Moose Jaw in their last regular season game, would mean Edmonton and Red Deer would square off once again in the first round.
Saturday night is the final regular season home game for the Rebels, and tickets are going fast (7:30). Tickets can also be purchased for games one and two of the first round, March 25th and 26th respectively.
