By Sheldon Spackman

Playoffs Begin March 29

Rebels close out regular season with 6-3 loss in Edmonton

Mar 25, 2024 | 7:23 AM

It was a disappointing end to the regular season for the Red Deer Rebels at Rogers Place in Edmonton Sunday night.

The hometown Oil Kings doubled up on the visiting Rebels 6-3, giving Red Deer a five-game losing streak to head into the upcoming playoffs. As they say, however, the playoffs are a brand new season and the Rebels will certainly welcome the clean slate.

Sunday’s game in front of a crowd of 17, 720, saw the Oil King’s hit the scoresheet first though, when Skyler Bruce scored his 15^th of the season, beating Rebels netminder Rhett Stoesser at 3:23 to make it 1-0 Edmonton. Ty Nash assisted on the play.

Red Deer’s Kai Uchacz then tied it up 1-1 at 8:00 when he lit the lamp on Oil King’s goaltender Kolby Hay, thanks to assists from Dwayne Jean Jr. and Hunter Mayo. It was the 42^nd goal of the season for Uchacz.

Edmonton pulled ahead 2-1 just after the Rebels killed off a tripping penalty to Zane Saab, thanks to Marc Lajoie soring his 25^th goal of the season at 17:34, with Adam Jecho and Gavin Hodnett chipping in with the helpers.

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The first period would end with Red Deer outshooting Edmonton 10-9.

Marshall Finnie then made it a 3-1 game at 6:00 of the second period when he scored his 21^st of the season, thanks to assists from Smyth Rebman and Ethan MacKenzie.

At 9:50, the Oil Kings Roan Woodward scored what would later prove to be the game winner, when he notched his 16^th of the season, along with assists from Skyler Bruce and Adam Jecho to make it 4-1.

Then with only 39 seconds remaining in the second period, Edmonton’s Gavin Hodnett scored his 23^rd of the season, unassisted and shorthanded to make it 5-1 Oil Kings heading into the break.

The Rebels outshot the Oil Kings 11-6 in the second period and 21-15 overall to that point.

The third period saw a goalie change for Red Deer, with Chase Wutzke coming in for Rhett Stoesser to start the final frame.

And the Rebels appeared to have a spark to start that final period when Jhett Larson scored his 16^th goal of the season just 1:19 in, thanks to assists from Jace Weir and Quentin Bourne, making it 5-2.

As the period wore on, however, some rough stuff predictably took place with both teams taking penalties, including a major charging penalty and game misconduct to Edmonton’s Ismail Abougouche at 16:13.

That led to a Rebels power play goal for Ollie Josephson, with Jhett Larson picking up the assist to make it 5-3. It was Josephson’s 12^th goal of the season and came at 17:33.

Then with 1:20 remaining, the Rebels pulled their goalie to add the extra attacker but Edmonton would capitalize as Marc Lajoie scored on the empty net to make it a 6-3 final. It was Lajoie’s second of the game and 26^th of the season, with Skyler Bruce and Ty Nash picking up the assists on the shorthanded goal.

Red Deer outshot Edmonton 7-3 in the third period and 28-18 overall.

On special teams, the Rebels went 1/6 on the power play while Edmonton went 0/4 with the man advantage.

Three Stars:

1. Marc Lajoie – Edmonton. 2G, 0A, +/- +2.

2. Ty Nash – Edmonton. 0G, 2A, +/- +2.

3. Skyler Bruce – Edmonton. 1G, 2A, +/- +4.

The loss dropped the Rebels record to 33-26-3-6 for 75 points to finish the regular season, finishing fifth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

They will now face the fourth place Medicine Hat Tigers (37-23-6-2 and 82 points) in the first round of the playoffs.

Game 1 of their best-of-seven series begins Friday, March 29, 7:00 p.m., at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Game 2 is Saturday, March 30, also in Medicine Hat, before the series returns to Red Deer for games 3 and 4.

Game 3 is Tuesday, April 2, at the Peavey Mart Centrium, with Game 4 on Wednesday, April 3.

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

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