The Brandon Wheat Kings' Brett Hyland takes a shot on Red Deer Rebels' goalie Connor Ungar Friday evening at the Peavey Mart Centrium. (Red Deer Rebels/Rob Wallator)

By Alessia Proietti

First game of 2022

Rebels lose 4-1 to Wheat Kings

Jan 14, 2022 | 11:29 PM

After a series of COVID-19 related postponements recently, the Red Deer Rebels played their first game of the new year Friday evening at the Peavey Mart Centrium, and may have been a little bit rusty, losing 4-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The first period saw some rough stuff from both teams. At 12:43, Owen Harris from the Wheat Kings was sent to the box for tripping, along with a major for fighting, while the Rebels Arshdeep Bains was given two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and a five minute major for fighting. If that wasn’t enough for the Rebels, just over a minute later Red Deer’s Matteo Fabrizi received an interference penalty, leaving the Wheat Kings with the man advantage. Ridly Greig seized the opportunity by scoring his 17^th goal of the season on Rebels goalie Connor Ungar at 15:02. The power play goal was assisted by Red Deer native Nate Danielson, as well as Nolan Ritchie.

After 20-minutes of play, the Rebels outshot the Wheat Kings 10-8.

Second period scoring started so fast, many in the crowd didn’t see the goal happen. Brandon’s Rylen Roersma scored his 10^th goal of the season just 15 seconds in. Ridly Greig and Nate Danielson assisted on the play, with the Wheat Kings now in a 2-0 lead.

Then with the Wheat Kings’ Nolan Ritchie in the box for tripping, the Rebels made their way onto the scoreboard just a few seconds before his return. At the 15:16 mark, Ben King scored his 23^rd goal this season on Brandon netminder Carson Bjarnason with the help of Jhett Larson and Arshdeep Bains. The score now 2-1.

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Just two minutes before the end of the period though, the Wheat Kings furthered their lead when Chad Nychuk scored his 10^th goal this season. Assisted by Nate Danielson and Ridly Greig once again, the team closed the period with a 3-1 lead.

Brandon outshot Red Deer 14-11 in the second period.

The third period was a slower one, however, not only seeing more shots on goal by the Wheat Kings (9-5) but as well as a final goal just after the 18-minute mark on an empty net. Rylen Roersma scored his second goal of the evening and 11^th overall, assisted by Nate Danielson and Ridly Greig.

The final score 4-1, the Wheat Kings outshot Red Deer 31-26, going 1/3 on the power play while the Rebels went 1/4 with the man advantage.

The three stars went to Brandon, with Chad Nychuk receiving the third star and Nate Danielson the second star for his three assists. The first star went to Ridly Greig for his goal and two assists on the evening.

The loss drops the Rebels’ record to 22-10-2-1 while the win for the Wheat Kings brings them up to 17-13-2-2.

The Rebels play their first road game of 2022 on Sunday in Medicine Hat against the Tigers. Face-off is 6 p.m.