The Saskatoon Blades vs the Red Deer Rebels at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, April 16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Steve Hiscock.)

By Sheldon Spackman

Series Headed To Red Deer

Rebels take 2-0 series lead over Blades following 5-2 win in Saskatoon

Apr 16, 2023 | 6:56 PM

The Red Deer Rebels have taken a 2-0 best of seven series lead over the Blades following a 5-2 victory in Saskatoon Sunday night.

The win puts the Rebels in a favourable position heading into Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference semi-final in Red Deer Tuesday evening.

The first period on Sunday, however, was a scoreless one with neither team getting a penalty and both teams managing only 4 shots on net a piece.

The Rebels blew the second period open though when Ben King scored his fourth of the playoffs at 7:53, on the power play, following a high sticking penalty to Saskatoon’s Brandon Lisowsky. Mats Lindgren and Jayden Grubbe assisted on the play to make it 1-0 Red Deer.

Less than two minutes later, Christoffer Sedoff put the Rebels up 2-0 when he scored his fourth goal of the playoffs at 9:42, with Ben King and Jhett Larson getting the assists.

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Jhett Larson then earned a goal of his own when he lit the lamp at 12:10, beating Blades goaltender Austin Elliott for his third of the playoffs. Jayden Grubbe and Ben King were credited with the helpers to make it 3-0 Rebels.

After 40 minutes, Red Deer outshot Saskatoon 11-4 in the second period for a two period total of 15-8 in favour of the Rebels to that point.

The third period saw the Rebels add to their lead when Carson Bernie scored his first of the post-season, unassisted at 3:38, a toe drag shot going bar down and putting Red Deer up 4-0.

But Saskatoon finally managed to get on the board later in the period when Brandon Lisowsky scored his second of the playoffs at 9:48, on the power play, following a kneeing penalty to Red Deer’s Kai Uchacz. Trevor Wong and Jake Chiasson chipped in the helpers for the Blades to make it 4-1.

The Rebels would restore their four goal lead though when Jayden Grubbe scored his second of the playoffs at 12:47, with assists coming from Ben King and Jhett Larson to make it 5-1 Red Deer.

The Blades would manage one more goal before the game came to a close, however, as Charlie Wright scored his second of the playoffs with just six seconds remaining, on the power play, following a high sticking penalty to Red Deer’s Matteo Fabrizi. Trevor Wong and Egor Sidorov assisted on the play for Saskatoon to make it a 5-2 final.

Saskatoon outshot Red Deer 8-5 in the third period for a three period total of 20-16 in favour of the Rebels.

Meanwhile, Red Deer went 1-for-2 on the power play while Saskatoon went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

In addition to the win, the Rebels also earned all three stars of the game with netminder Kyle Kelsey earning the game’s third star. Kelsey stopped 14 of 16 shots on the night, with teammate Jayden Grubbe, who had one goal and two assists for three points, earning the second star. Ben King, meanwhile, who had one goal and three assist for four points, was named the game’s first star.

Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference semi-final now moves to Alberta on Tuesday, April 18, starting at 7:00 p.m. MST at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer.

You can also catch all the action live on 106.7 Rewind Radio, starting with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.