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two in a row

On Gard: Young centre powers Rebels to another win over Hitmen

Nov 18, 2023 | 10:00 PM

In the third of nine meetings between the Red Deer Rebels and Calgary Hitmen Saturday, a 16-year-old centre powered the home team to victory.

The Rebels beat Calgary 3-2 at the Centrium, their second win over the Hitmen in as many nights, on two goals from Winnipeg native Matthew Gard. Selected by Red Deer in the second round (39th overall) of the 2022 WHL Draft, the goals were Gard’s first and second of his WHL career. He now has four points in 14 games this season.

Red Deer now leads the season series against Calgary with two wins and one loss.

The game was also the first of six straight at home for Red Deer, with games coming up against Brandon, Regina, Calgary again, Moose Jaw and Everett.

Scoring summary

Gard (1st) opened the scoring just 140 seconds in, unassisted

That was it for the first period which ended 1-0.

At 13:05, Keets Fawcett (2nd) equalized for Calgary, and it was 1-1 after 40.

In the third, Red Deer took control, first with captain Kai Uchacz (12th) scoring at 7:51.

Just 1:05 later, Gard (2nd) got his second of the night, which turned out to be the game-winner.

Calgary pressured late, and Sean Tschigerl (9th) cut the deficit for Calgary to one with 59 seconds to go.

But that was all she wrote, and the Rebels improved to 8-9-0-3 on the season, while Calgary falls to 9-10-2-0. The Hitmen remain one point up on Red Deer in the Central Division standings.

Between the pipes

CGY: Ethan Buenaventura – 43/46, 6-7-2-0

RD: Rhett Stoesser – 26/28, 4-4-0-1

Shots

CGY: 28

RD: 46

Power play

CGY: 0/3

RD: 0/5

Three stars

1st: Matthew Gard (RD) – 2G, +2, 4 shots, 2/3 FOW

2nd: Rhett Stoesser (RD) – 26 saves

3rd: Ethan Buenaventura (CGY) – 43 saves

Up next for the Rebels is the Brandon Wheat Kings, who’ll be in town Friday, Nov. 24. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND Radio starting at 6:30.

The Rebels then host the Regina Pats the next night, at the same time.