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Oil Kings sneak out back-half of home and home with Rebels

Feb 10, 2018 | 3:36 PM

The Red Deer Rebels were looking to build on back to back victories and establish a winning streak as they made their way into Edmonton Saturday afternoon.

However, after downing the Oil Kings 7-2 at the Enmax Centrium Friday night, the Rebels road trip to the capital ended in disappointment with a 4-3 loss at Rogers Place Saturday.

The first period saw no goals scored, just a handful of penalties, three for Edmonton and one for Red Deer. The Rebels had the edge on the shot clock though, outshooting the Oil Kings 13-5 after twenty minutes and going 0 for 2 on the power play.

In the second period, Rebels goalie Ethan Anders tried to make a pass while Red Deer was on the power play and had it intercepted by Edmonton’s Liam Keeler. Keeler took advantage and scored at the 3:45 mark to make it 1-0 Oil Kings. It was Keeler’s third goal of the season and an unassisted, short-handed effort on his part. The score remained 1-0 Edmonton after two periods of play.

In the third, Red Deer tied it up when Austin Schellenberg scored his second of the year at 3:34, capitalizing on a rebound off Edmonton goalie Josh Dechaine to make it 1-1. However, just 23 seconds later the Rebels pulled ahead when Brandon Cutler earned his second of the season, snagging the puck and spinning around to rip one over Edmonton’s Josh Dechaine to make it 2-1 Red Deer.

The parade of third period goals continued just a few minutes later when the Oil Kings David Kope scored his ninth of the year, re-directing a shot from the point at the 6:40 mark to tie the game back up at 2-2.

Edmonton wasn’t done though, as Colton Kehler took advantage of a five on three power play for the Oil Kings and scored his 24th of the season at 8:52 to put the home team back in front 3-2.

Not to be outdone, the Rebels kept fighting and tied it back up at 18:21 when Reese Johnson came down the wing on a short-handed odd-man rush and shot it high on Dechaine’s short side, scoring his 18th of the year to make it 3-3.

Then with overtime looming and only eight seconds left, Edmonton’s Trey Fix-Wolansky redirected a shot off his skate past Red Deer’s Ethan Anders to make it a 4-3 final.

Shots on goal finished 32-22 in favour of Red Deer, with the Rebels going 0 for 5 on the power play, while Edmonton went 1 for 3.

The win improves the Oil Kings record to 15-32-5-2 with 37 points and sixth place in the WHL’s Central Division. Red Deer drops to 17-26-10-3 with 47 points and fourth in the Central.

Red Deer’s next game is Monday, February 12 in Prince George for a 3:00 p.m. face-off against the Cougars.

You can catch all the action live on 106.7 The Drive starting with the pre-game show at 2:50 p.m.