Red Deer Rebels forward Jhett Larson tried to jam the puck past Vancouver Giants netminder Matthew Hutchison during a WHL game at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Oct. 8, 2024. (Red Deer Rebels/Taylor Lachance)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

power play too powerful

Rebels’ win streak comes to a screeching halt against Vancouver

Oct 8, 2024 | 9:52 PM

The Red Deer Rebels were dealt their first regulation loss of the season by the Vancouver Giants on Tuesday, and had their four-game win streak snapped in the process.

Red Deer was riding high after three wins over Medicine Hat and a fourth against Calgary, but Vancouver provided too stiff a test on this night as the teams played out their only meeting of the season from the Peavey Mart Centrium.

The Rebels’ only other loss this season came in the opener against Lethbridge, but they claimed a point in overtime on that occasion. Vancouver, meantime, came in 3-2-0-0, and — this is very relevant — with a league-best 42.3 per cent success rate on the power play.

Scoring summary

The reason the Giants’ man advantage success coming is so important is because they proceeded to score three power play goals in the first period against Red Deer.

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It began at 7:49 with new Giants captain Mazden Leslie (3rd) beating Chase Wutzke.

Ty Halaburda (3rd) then got one at 16:35; then on a power play that had only seen 11 seconds elapse, Cameron Schmidt (8th) tallied, and with just nine seconds on the clock.

It was 3-0 visitors after 20 minutes.

Red Deer came out of the blocks hot in the second when rookie 17-year-old Cohen Poulin (3rd) scored at 1:53 — Evan Smith assisted.

But the Giants were ultimately too much to handle.

Aaron Obobaifo (5th) restored the three-goal lead at 6:15, then Jakob Oreskovic extended it to four at 8:10.

The Rebels Hunter Mayo (2nd) got one back at 12:46 of the second, which made it 5-2.

Save for one minor penalty against Vancouver, Red Deer outshooting the Giants 13-4, and stellar work by Giants netminder Matthew Hutchison, the third period was silent on the scoresheet.

Final score: 5-2 Vancouver.

Shots

VAN: 15-9-4-28

RD: 8-13-13-34

Power play

VAN: 3/3

RD: 0/4

Three stars

1st: Mazden Leslie (VAN) – 1 goal, 3 assists

2nd: Ty Halaburda (VAN) – 1 goal, 1 assist

3rd: Hunter Mayo (RD) – 1 goal

Up next for your Red Deer Rebels are three straight on the road starting tomorrow, Oct. 9, in Medicine Hat. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND Radio.

Red Deer is in Edmonton Oct. 12 for a 2 p.m. matinee, and then in Calgary Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. They return home Oct. 19 versus Saskatoon at 7 p.m.

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