By Dan Hermanutz

another heartbreaker

Hurricanes win 7-6 thriller over Rebels with last-minute goal

Feb 6, 2020 | 10:45 AM

The Red Deer Rebels have gotten into the habit of playing in exciting games at the Westerner Park Centrium of late, and Wednesday night was no exception.

The Rebels went toe to toe with the high flying Lethbridge Hurricanes but came up on the short end of a 7-6 decision.

The Hurricanes look an early lead just over five minutes into the first period as Dylan Cozens won a draw that ended up on the sick of Alex Cotton, who found the back of the net past Rebels goalie Byron Fancy.

The Rebels tied the game up five minutes later when Josh Tarzwell, with a great individual effort, beat Cotton one-on-one and then beat Hurricanes goaltender Carl Tetachuk with a backhand shot for his 22^nd goal of the year.

Just over five minutes into the second frame, Arshdeep Bains rushed the net with Tarzwell before sliding a pass over to the Red Deer native, who one-timed home his second goal on the night.

judicial review to continue in june

Day 3 of LaGrange v. Red Deer Catholic: The meme had, "nothing to do with the Holocaust"

13h ago

April 2023 Incident

Two-year prison term for man convicted in arson fire of Red Deer Canadian Tire store

13h ago

Red Deer building permit values rise in April

14h ago

The Rebels made it 3-1 eight minutes into the second after an error by Tetachuk as he stopped the puck behind the net, but Ben King got there first and beat him to the net for his 12^th goal on the year. Tetachuk was pulled after the goal and replaced by Bryan Thomson.

The Rebels added another goal just a minute later when Jayden Grubbe passed it to Keaton Sorenson who one-timed it to the back of the net for his 7^th goal of the year.

The Hurricanes replied with a powerplay goal when Fancy stopped the original shot, but the rebound proved too much as Logan Barlage made it 4-2 10:18 into period two.

Later, a wraparound attempt from Hurricanes forward Ty Nash ended up on the stick of Jett Jones, who in turn cashed in his sixth of the year.

The Rebels were given a powerplay late in the second but it did not work in their favour. The Hurricanes had an odd man rush up the ice where the puck found Cozens’ stick for a back door for a tap-in.

A minute into the third period, the Rebels regained the lead when Zak Smith scored his 11^th goal of the season on a pass from King for a 5-4 score.

Two minutes later, the Hurricanes tied it up on of a tipped shot from the point. Ty Prefontaine got his third of the season to make it 5-5.

Six minutes into the third period, King and Bains found themselves on a two on one and played some tic-tac-toe before King put it home to make it 6-5 Red Deer.

Former Rebel Brett Davis received a nice feed from Cozens and taped it in for a 6-6 tie late in the third period.

After Cam Hausinger took a late hooking penalty, Davis struck again from the top of the circle for the game winner with 49 seconds left to play.

Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter was frustrated with his team’s poor defensive play on the night.

“Everything that we’ve been working on all year not to do we did tonight,” he lamented. “We talk about being a better defensive team and we give up seven goals. When you score six you should win the game.”

Sutter was also disappointed by his team’s lack of discipline which led to giving up the game winning goal on a Hurricanes powerplay.

“Look at the penalties we took tonight, just bad penalties. We take a bad penalty with a couple minutes left in the game because you’re not moving your feet. Everything we’re not supposed to do we did tonight. You get what you deserve.”

Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 39-33 on the night and was 2-for-4 on the powerplay while the Rebels were 1-for-6.

The Rebels dropped their second straight and fell to 17-27-2-3 on the year. They play next Friday in Edmonton (7 p.m. on 106.7 THE DRIVE).