Photo: Rob Wallator 

By Kael Clark

comeback comes up short

Thunderbirds escape Red Deer with 5-4 shootout win over Rebels

Oct 26, 2019 | 2:22 PM

The Seattle Thunderbirds came out on top at the Westerner Park Centrium with a 5-4 shootout win over the Red Deer Rebels in an exciting tilt Friday night.

It was the one and only time the Thunderbirds will face Red Deer this season. It was also a return for former Rebels to the Centrium as Ryan Gottfried along with Alex Morozoff and Hunter Donohoe were given a warm welcome back after being traded to Seattle earlier in the season.

Ethan Sakowich got things rolling in the first period with a sharp angle shot that snuck past Seattle goalie Roddy Ross for a Rebels 1-0 lead.

It did not take Seattle long to respond with a quick centring pass from behind the net that would find Jared Davidson as he buried it past Rebels netminder Ethan Anders for a 1-1 game.

The Rebels started the second period with the man advantage. Christopher Sedoff let a nice wrist shot go from the blue line, with traffic in front of the net, and beat Ross cleanly for his first ever WHL goal and a 2-1 Rebels lead.

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Red Deer got themselves into some penalty trouble in the last half of the second period and momentum shifted towards Seattle. The Rebels did kill off three penalties, however Seattle kept the pressure in the Red Deer zone until Andrej Kukuca tipped the puck back door into an empty net for his fifth goal of the season to tie the game 2-2.

Luke Bateman then picked up his first WHL goal as he made a nifty move past a Red Deer defenceman and walked in to put a shot past Anders for Seattle’s first lead of the game, 3-2 5:17 into period three.

With the Rebels caught in the middle of a line change, Mathew Wedman stole the puck from Arshdeep Bains and fed Henrik Rybinski who put it away for a 4-2 Thunderbirds lead 6:38 into the third period.

The Rebels clawed themselves back into the game on the strength of a pair of goals from Zak Smith just 16 seconds apart.

The first at the 15:54 mark came on a hard snap shot past Ross. The second came on a 2-on-1 with Josh Tarzwell that ended with Smith putting home a one-timer.

The game went to overtime where neither team was able to score during 3-on-3 play.

Simon Kubicek was the lone goal scorer in the shootout with a gorgeous snipe off the inside of the post to give the Thunderbirds their first win on their 5-game road trip.

Red Deer has now lost six straight games heading into their six-game road trip out East.

Seattle outshot Red deer 40-36. The Rebels turned down all four powerplays the Thunderbirds had and went 1-for-4 on their powerplay opportunities.

The Next home game for Red Deer will be November 15 against Medicine Hat. Red Deer’s next game will be Friday November 1 in Moose Jaw at 7 p.m.. Listen live on 106.7 The Drive for all of the action.