Rebels win tight one over Calgary

Brandon Hagel scored an empty net goal on a shot from his own blue line with 1:22 remaining to put the Rebels ahead 3-1.

Josh Tarzwell was awarded a penalty shot with 46 seconds left, but was denied by Hitmen goalie Carl Stankowski.

“I thought we started out quick, we wanted to get a good jump early. I thought we let our foot off the gas, which we’ve been doing lately,” said Rebels assistant coach Brad Flynn. “A lot of credit goes to our veteran guys. The 20-year-olds, they pulled through and started grinding again and everybody else followed suit.”

Both goaltenders were solid in this game as Ethan Anders made 30 saves for the Rebels, while Stankowski turned aside 28 of the 30 shots he faced for the Hitmen.

“Andy was awesome. He’s been really good for us and he’s just going to keep rolling,” Rebels captain Reese Johnson said.

Red Deer was 0/1 on the power play while Calgary was 1/2.

Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter missed the game as he is on the Vancouver Canucks “Dads Trip” to watch son Brandon, who plays for the Canucks.

“Brent is really big on our identity about being courageous and competitive,” Flynn added. “We got away from that and started turning pucks over at the blue line. When we do that, we’re an average team. When we stick to our identity and keep it simple, we showed what we can do.”

The Rebels are right back in action Wednesday night when they visit the Medicine Hat Tigers. Game time is 7 p.m. with the radio broadcast on 106.7 THE DRIVE starting at 6:50.

by Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Rebels win tight one over Calgary

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