(Red Deer Rebels/Rob Wallator)

By Sheldon Spackman

5-3 Loss In Game 6 Sunday

Rebels and Blades headed to Game 7

Apr 23, 2023 | 6:15 PM

The Red Deer Rebels and Saskatoon Blades are heading to a seventh and deciding game in their WHL Eastern Conference semi-final series.

This, after a 5-3 win for the Blades in Game 6 at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer, in front of 5,067 fans Sunday afternoon.

It was the Blades who opened the scoring as well, when Egor Sidorov scored just 34 seconds into the game with a one-handed wraparound, beating Rebels goaltender Chase Coward high blocker side for his eighth of the playoffs. It was an unassisted effort to put the visitors up 1-0 early.

Saskatoon then added to their lead at 16:24, when Trevor Wong slammed in a second rebound, off the post, after Chase Coward made the first save. Brandon Lisowsky and Egor Sidorov assisted on the play for the Blades to make it 2-0.

Despite the score, the Rebels outshot Saskatoon 16-6 in the opening period.

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The second period saw Red Deer cut into that lead though, when Jace Isley scored his second of the playoffs at 5:09 of the middle frame, wacking in a rebound from the crease, through the five hole of Saskatoon netminder Austin Elliott to make it 2-1. Mats Lindgren and Kai Uchacz were credited with the assists.

The Blades would restore their two goal lead, however, soon after a tripping penalty to the Rebels Christoffer Sedoff. While trying to break out of their own zone on the penalty kill, Red Deer would turn it over when Saskatoon picked-off a pass just in front of the Rebels blue line, creating a 3-on-0 and a tic-tac-toe scoring opportunity for the Blades, in which they capitalized, scoring at 9:53 to make it 3-1.

Egor Sidorov lit the lamp for Saskatoon on the power play for his second goal of the game and ninth of the playoffs, with assists coming from Brandon Lisowsky and Trevor Wong.

The Blades then capitalized on another turnover in the Rebels end, resulting in Jake Chiasson receiving a pass from Spencer Shugrue in the slot and beating Chase Coward glove side, putting the visitors up 4-1. Though Coward appeared to get a piece of it, Chiasson earned his fourth goal of the playoffs at 17:37.

The Rebels kept pressing, however, and entered the Saskatoon zone with just under a minute to play in the period. Kai Uchacz would fire a puck from the high slot and beat Austin Elliott for his ninth of the playoffs at 19:31, to make it 4-2 and give Red Deer some momentum heading into a critical third period. Quentin Bourne and Ryker Singer would earn the assists.

The Blades outshot the Rebels 11-9 in the second period, with Red Deer still outshooting Saskatoon 25-17 overall after 40 minutes.

The third period then saw the Rebels come to within one, when Jace Isley picked up a loose puck in the corner, to the left of Saskatoon netminder Austin Elliott, and shoot from the bottom of the face-off circle, beating Elliott short side. It was Isley’s third of the post season and came unassisted at 12:13 to make it a 4-3 game.

But that’s as close as the Rebels would come, as with just under two minutes to play, Red Deer would pull Chase Coward from the net to add the extra attacker and Saskatoon would make them pay. Jayden Wiens would pick up a loose puck just outside the Rebels blue line and shoot it into the empty net at 18:08 to make it 5-3.

That led to a rather heated end to the game though, as with just 48 seconds to play, a brawl involving all ten skaters on the ice would break out, following a whistle to the left of Saskatoon goaltender Austin Elliott.

The fisticuffs would result in a long list of penalties for both teams, including 5 minute majors for fighting, 10 minute misconducts, cross checking, roughing, and a game misconduct for Red Deer’s Jhett Larson. Further penalties to both teams would also follow before the game came to an end.

Red Deer outshot Saskatoon 13-6 in the final period and 38-23 overall.

On the power play, Red Deer went 0/4 on the afternoon, while Saskatoon went 1/6 with the man advantage.

Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk says there were some key plays that gave the Blades prime scoring opportunities.

“I thought we came out with the right mindset in the first period. I thought we did some things well. I thought we forechecked and I thought we had some chances, but the mistakes were huge,” he lamented. “We can’t make those kinds of mistakes. We didn’t do a great job of closing it out but we still have one more game and now they have to close it out, so it’s a different mindset for them as well.”

Konowalchuck notes, however, the Rebels will build on the positives heading into Game 7, like bringing a strong forecheck and pushing the pace as always.

“I don’t think we need to change anything, the scoring chances are there,” he said. “We just have to eliminate the big mistake.”

The game’s third star went to Saskatoon’s Trevor Wong, who had one goal and one assist for two points on the day. Red Deer’s Jace Isley, who scored twice, was named the game’s second star, while Saskatoon’s Egor Sidorov, who had two goals and one assist for three points, was named the game’s first star.

Game 7 will be at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, SK, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, starting at 7:00 p.m. MDT.

You can catch all the action live on 106.7 Rewind Radio.