Rebels remain undefeated against Oil Kings this season

After 20 minutes of play, the home team outshot the visitors 18-6.

In the middle frame, Edmonton’s Loick Daigle scored his first goal this WHL season on Red Deer netminder Rhett Stoesser. The unassisted goal tied the game 1-1.

The period ended with multiple penalties for both teams at the final second, meaning they would have to be served in the third period. The Oil Kings’ Rhett Melnyk was given a five minute major for fighting, while the Rebels’ Craig Armstrong received a five minute major for fighting, a two minute instigator penalty served by Frantisek Formanek, and a 10-minute misconduct.

It was now the Oil Kings that outshot the Rebels in the second period, 14-11.

In the final period, although shorthanded, Red Deer’s Jhett Larson scored his 11^th goal of the season in the top right corner of the net at 1:34. Assisted by Ollie Josephson, the team regained their lead 2-1.

The tables then turned when, with all players back on the ice, Edmonton’s Carter Kowalyk was sent to the box for high sticking. From inside the crease, the Rebel’s Kalan Lind unknowingly took advantage of the power play opportunity as his skate deflected the puck off a rebound and into the net. His 11^th goal this season at 4:43 was assisted by Kai Uchacz and Jayden Grubbe, pushing Red Deer ahead 3-1.

Then with two minutes left in the period, the Oil Kings pulled goaltender Kolby Hay. With an empty net, Red Deer’s Jace Weir scored his first goal of the season since April 2019. Assisted by Jayden Grubbe and Jace Isley, the final score read 4-1 for the Rebels.

While the Oil Kings led the Rebels in shots on goal for the third period 15-9, the Rebels still outshot Edmonton 38-35 overall.

The Rebels went 1/2 on the power play while the Oil Kings went 0/5 with the man advantage.

The Rebels also maintain their first place position in the Central Division with a record of 28-8-1-3 for a total of 60 points, while the loss keeps the Oil Kings in last place in the Central Division at 6-34-1-0 and 13 points.

Rebels Coach Steve Konowalchuk said while the Rebels did not play “the right way” in the second period, and at times “too cute” in the third, they regained puck control. Although there were multiple fighting related penalty calls, he said the physical game showed the team’s pride in how hard they play on the ice.

“They want to compete. They’ll stick up for each other at the right time. You always got to be smart; you don’t want to get in the penalty box. Sometimes that’s a fine line at this level,” he said. “You got to be careful; you have to pick the right times to stick up for each other and I think our guys did that tonight.”

Red Deer’s Jhett Larson added the major fight which got the team “fired up” before heading into the final period.

“It kind of gave us new life and we worked from there,” he said.

All three stars of tonight’s game went to the Rebels. The third star was awarded to Jhett Larson for his goal while the second star was given to goaltender Rhett Stoesser for his 34 saves. The first star went to Kalan Lind for his goal and assist.

The Rebels will play against the Lethbridge Hurricanes Saturday night at the Enmax Centre. Face-off is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND Radio.

by Alessia Proietti

Rebels remain undefeated against Oil Kings this season

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