The Red Deer Rebels' Jhett Larson plays against the Edmonton Oil Kings Tuesday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium. (Red Deer Rebels/Rob Wallator)

By Alessia Proietti

Hat trick by Rebels' Kai Uchacz

Rebels beat Oil Kings 7-1 in first game back from Christmas break

Dec 28, 2022 | 1:40 PM

In their first game back from the Christmas break, the Red Deer Rebels claimed a massive 7-1 victory against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

In the first period, Red Deer’s Ollie Josephson opened the scoring when he tapped in his second goal of the season while blocking the Oil Kings’ defencemen right in front of the crease of netminder Kolby Hay. Assisted by Arjun Bawa and Christoffer Sedoff halfway through the period, the home team now lead 1-0.

With Edmonton’s Tom Cadieux sent to the box for delaying the game, the Rebels capitalized on their man advantage. Red Deer’s Matteo Fabrizi picked up the puck from the boards and wrist shot from the point, piercing the top right corner of the net at 13:45. His fourth goal of the season doubled the team’s lead to 2-0 with his unassisted power play goal.

From a quick pass in the slot, the Rebels’ Craig Armstrong tripled their lead to 3-0 at 16:50. His fifth goal this WHL season was assisted by Jace Isley and Hunter Mayo.

After 20 minutes of play, it was the Oil Kings who outshot the Rebels 14-10.

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In the middle frame, another slow start brought the Rebels to begin the scoring at 11:39. With Edmonton’s Braeden Wynne on a penalty for holding, Red Deer’s Kai Uchacz scored his 24^th goal this season with a one-timer. Assisted by Christoffer Sedoff and Jayden Grubbe, the power play goal brought the team to a 4-0 lead.

The Oil Kings made it to the scoreboard at 15:30 when Luke Robson scored his second goal of the season on goaltender Rhett Stoesser. With the assists made by Treycen Wuttunee and Reid Larson, the game was now 4-1 for the Rebels.

But with Edmonton’s John Szabo sent to the box shortly after for cross checking, the same three Rebels took advantage of the power play opportunity at 16:57. Red Deer’s Kai Uchacz scored his 25^th goal of the season and second of the game off an immediate rebound from goalie Kolby Kay. Assisted by Jayden Grubbe and Christoffer Sedoff, their lead was pushed to 5-1.

In the second period, the Oil Kings still slightly outshot the Rebels 13-11.

In the final period, Red Deer’s Carson Birnie was able to quickly tap in his sixth goal of the season on a rebound in front of the crease at the 13 minute mark. Assisted by Dwayne Jean Jr. and Marek Schneider, the home team lead 6-1.

With Edmonton’s Nathan Pilling on penalty for cross checking, the Rebels’ Kai Uchacz earned himself a hat trick when he scored his third goal of the game, all on power plays, at 15:55. Capitalizing on a predominately open net, he scored his 26^th goal of the season. Talon Brigley and Jhett Larson assisted the play for a 7-1 lead against the Oil Kings.

In the third period, it was Red Deer who outshot Edmonton 17-8 and overall 38-35.

The Rebels also went 4/6 on the power play while the Oil Kings went 0/5 with the man advantage.

The Rebels earned all three stars for the evening, with goaltender Rhett Stoesser claiming the third star. Christoffer sedoff received the second star for his three assists while Kai Uchacz was given the first star of the game for his hat trick.

The win kept the Rebels in the Central Division’s first place spot with 23-6-1-3 while the loss put the Oil Kings in last place with 4-29-1-0.

The Rebels will play the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Face-off is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND radio.