The Red Deer Rebels' Ben King scores a tying goal in the second period of their 3-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome Oct. 31. (Red Deer Rebels Twitter)

By Alessia Proietti

A spook-tacular 3-2 win

Rebels start road trip with a win

Oct 31, 2021 | 8:39 PM

The Red Deer Rebels had no fear this Halloween, with a 3-2 win against the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome this Sunday afternoon.

An eerie start led the first period for the Rebels, with the Hitmen’s Zac Funk scoring his second goal of the season almost four minutes into the game on goaltender Chase Coward, assisted by Jackson van de Leest and Riley Fiddler-Schultz.

Setting the tone, the final three minutes of the period saw both teams receive five minute majors for fighting between the Hitmen’s Matthew Sutter and the Rebels’ Jace Isley. This resulted in a man advantage for Red Deer as Calgary added a cross-checking penalty for Jackson van de Leest. The effect was minor, however, as the Hitmen still had more shots on goal (11-8) by the end of the period.

The Rebels crept their way to a tie in the second period when Saturday’s first star, Ben King, scored his eighth goal of the season at 14:32 on netminder Brayden Peters during a power play which followed a hooking penalty to Calgary’s Maxim Muranov. Sharing the spotlight were Blake Stevenson and Christoffer Sedoff with the assists.

Calgary outshot Red Deer 10-7 in the second period and led 21-15 in shots after two periods of play.

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In the third period, a hooking penalty to Calgary’s Riley Fiddler-Schultz led Red Deer’s Arshdeep Bains to score his fifth goal of the season just after the five minute mark during the power play. Ben King and Christoffer Sedoff assisted to help give the Rebels a 2-1 lead.

Seeking redemption, Calgary’s Adam Kydd brought his team close to a tie, shooting the puck off the post, only to be swept away by the Rebels. Later, at 13:33, the Rebels Jhett Larson scored on a breakaway which turned out to be the eventual game-winner. The goal was assisted by Arshdeep Bains and Blake Gustafson.

Just over a minute later, however, the Rebels’ Kalan Lind was sent to the box for tripping and Calgary capitalized as the Hitmen’s Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored during the power play – his third goal of the season at 15:20. Adam Kydd and Cael Zimmerman were credited with the assists.

With the score still 3-2 Red Deer, Calgary pulled goaltender Brayden Peters at 18:27, but to no avail. The Rebels held on for the victory.

Red Deer outshot Calgary 13-12 in the final period, but the game finished with the Hitmen outshooting the Rebels 33-28.

Red Deer maximized their power play opportunities though, going 2/5 with the man advantage, while Calgary was 1/3 on the power play.

Sunday’s third star of the game went to Red Deer’s Ben King. The second star was Calgary’s Brayden Peters, leaving the first star to the Rebels’ Arshdeep Bains.

With the Red Deer Rebels starting their seven game road trip with a sweet victory, their record now improves to 8-4-1, placing them atop the WHL’s Central Division. The Calgary Hitmen sit in fifth with a record of 4-5-0.

The Rebels now travel to Manitoba to play the Winnipeg ICE on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. CDT (6 p.m. MT).