By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

first of four-game homestand

Rebels blow away Hurricanes 6-3

Oct 22, 2021 | 9:42 PM

The Red Deer Rebels’ sticks came alive once again Friday night as they played host to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Coming in, the home team sat second in the Central Division at 4-3-1-0, while the visitors were 3-2-0-0, and holding the first Eastern Conference wild card spot.

Just 60 seconds after puck drop, the Canes drew first blood, Chase Wheatcroft (3rd) scoring for the early lead.

That’s when Red Deer flipped the table hard, first with Liam Keeler (3rd) scoring at 6:32 — assists to Jayden Grubbe and Dallon Melin.

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At 10:17, Grubbe (3rd) notched one of his own, this time on the power play, and with Keeler and Jace Weir assisting.

Ethan Rowland (2nd) then put Red Deer up 3-1 at 15:12 — assists to Melin and Joel Sexsmith. Then Kyle Masters (1st) scored unassisted at 18:17, and the Rebels were up 4-1 after 20 minutes.

Lethbridge once again scored early in a period, this time 57 seconds into the second and on the power play — Alex Cotton (3rd) getting the puck by Connor Ungar to cut the Rebels’ lead to 4-2.

Kalan Lind (2nd) scored, again unassisted, at 2:59 to restore the three-goal lead at 5-2.

Adding insult to injury, Ben King (4th) scored at 10:56, with Kai Uchacz and Arshdeep Bains assisting — this goal again with the man advantage, and the Rebels were up 6-2 with one period to play.

In the final frame, Lethbridge’s Cotton (4th) got his second of the night at 9:33, again up a skater to make it 6-3.

And that was as close as the visiting Hurricanes would come.

In the win, the Rebels’ Ungar stopped 18 of 21 shots and improved to 2-0 on the season with a stat-line of 1.73 GAA and .942 SV%. At the opposite end, Canes netminder Bryan Thomson allowed five goals in 22:59 before getting the yank in favour of Jared Picklyk.

On the night, Red Deer went 2/4 on the power play, and Lethbridge was 2/5. Red Deer outshot their opponents 42-21.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

*Dallon Melin – 2 assists

**Jayden Grubbe – 1 goal, 1 assist

***Joel Sexsmith – 1 assist

The Rebels have now scored four or more goals in four of their first nine games of the 2021-22 WHL season.

Up next for Red Deer is a home date against the Brandon Wheat Kings Saturday at 7 p.m. from the Peavey Mart Centrium.

The broadcast can be heard live on 106.7 REWIND Radio starting at 6:30. Tickets are available here.