Photo: Rob Wallator

By Kael Clark

first home win

Rebels hang on to edge Blades 2-1

Oct 1, 2019 | 10:57 PM

The Red Deer Rebels special teams got it done on Tuesday night to give them the 2-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades.

It was the first win at home this season for the Rebels in their third game at the Westerner Park Centrium.

The Rebels got the home crowd into it early with a powerplay goal from Arshdeep Bains taking it to the net to beat Nolan Maier 3:52 into the opening perod.

Saskatoon came out hungry and looking to answer in the second period. Riley Mckay received a nice feed from Aidan De La Gorgendiere before tucking the puck past Rebels goalie Ethan Anders at the 3:59 mark.

Red Deer found themselves on their heels after the goal which forced coach Brent Sutter to call a timeout. With a little break, the Rebels got back to playing their style of hockey.

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Moments later, the Rebels special teams continued to do great things as Ethan Sakowich ripped one past Mair for a 2-1 lead 9:21 into the middle frame.

“I closed my eyes if I’m being honest with you,” Sakowich said, somewhat slyly, about his goal. “It was awesome, seeing the guys get that happy for me, I don’t do that too often, it was pretty cool.”

Saskatoon pressured Red Deer in the third period and came close, twice, to tying the game.

With just over five minutes left to play, Saskatoon thought they had tied the game but with goaltender interference, the goal was disallowed. Then with just over a minute and a half left to play, another Blades goal was waved off due to the puck being knocked in with a high stick. The two plays would be the difference as the Rebels held on for the one-goal win.

“It was an awesome character win for us. The game got tight, it got close and the way we were able to come together and get the win, it was awesome,” said Sakowich, who was named the game’s first star.

Red Deer went 2-for-4 on the powerplay and killed all three minor penalties they took on the night. Red Deer was outshot 35-24 by the Blades.

Red Deer will now hit the road for a pair of games this weekend starting Friday night in Swift Current (7 p.m. on 106.7 The Drive).