(Photo by Taylor Lachance/ Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

Sweet revenge

Rebels back in the win column with rebound victory over Hurricanes

Nov 2, 2024 | 10:18 PM

A big second period by the Red Deer Rebels propelled them to a 5-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night.

In front of 4,119 fans at the Peavey Mart Centrium, all four lines scored for the Rebels, led offensively by forward Talon Brigley, who had two points.

Goaltender Chase Wutzke made 17 saves on 21 shots and Hurricanes netminder Koen Cleaver made 30 saves.

Rebels head coach Dave Struch said his team played with lots of energy, which highlighted their relentless work ethic.

It was a much-needed win for the Rebels who lost to the Hurricanes a week ago.

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“The work that the guys put in this week at practice, when you have that much time to prepare, they took advantage of a team that played last night, and it was fun to be a part of that with those guys,” Struch said.

“They showed a lot of pride in their work ethic and deserved to win.”

It’s not easy to have all four lines contributing every game so when it does happen, Struch said it’s huge, especially when facing divisional teams.

“Every night is a tug of war. When you get a chance to play all four lines they contributed and had an impact on the game,” he added.

The Hurricanes scored a late first period goal on the powerplay to lead 1-0 despite being outshot 13-3 by the Rebels.

With nearly a minute and a half to go in the opening frame, forward Miguel Marques picked the top shelf of the net off the feed in front by Logan Wormald.

The Rebels nearly had a goal earlier in the first but rookie Jaxon Fuder was unable to bury an opportunity in front of the net off a pass from Jeramiah Roberts. Hurricanes goaltender Koen Cleaver made it across the crease to rob Fuder.

In the second period, the Rebels potted their first of the evening nearly five minutes in. Rebels rookie Beckett Hamilton showed patience in the slot and fired one into the back of the net, assisted by Evan Smith.

The Hurricanes answered over a minute later for their second powerplay goal of the game. Defenceman Noah Chadwick fired one in from the point to take a 2-1 lead.

The Rebels only needed 13 seconds to tie the game again. Forward Matthew Gard pounced on a rebound in front of the net that went off the goalies pad and in.

Red Deer then took their first lead of the game when Carson Birnie scored a powerplay goal with 7:40 left in the middle frame. Birnie, who was fed the puck on the right side of the net, used his body to protect the puck and knocked it in.

Forward Talon Brigley extended the Rebels lead just over a minute later after Trae Wilke hit the post on a cross-ice feed from Brigley. With the puck sitting in the crease, Brigley was there to tap it in.

Brigley said postgame that it was one of the best games they’ve played all season.

“We were applying the pressure through all 60 minutes and we had a little hiccup at the end but we learned from our mistakes last game and we held it down,” Brigley explained.

“Having depth scoring is really important. It’s pretty hard to win games when only one line’s scoring every night. To have that depth, everyone can score on any given night. It’s awesome to see that.”

However, the Hurricanes slowed down the Rebels momentum scoring a goal with 3:32 left in the second period. Gavin Lesiuk tapped in the rebound off a shot from Chadwick.

Rebels import forward Samuel Drancak made it 5-3 for Red Deer midway through the final period.

The 18-year-old from Czechia capitalized on a wrap around attempt to give the home team a two-goal cushion.

The Hurricanes didn’t go away quietly scoring a goal with 3:06 left in the game.

Forward Brayden Edwards, after receiving the puck down low off a pass from the blue line, knocked in what appeared to be a no-look backhand shot that beat the goaltender.

The Hurricanes kept up the pressure but were unable to find the equalizer due to strong defensive play and excellent goaltending by Wutzke.

With the win, the Rebels are now tied for second with the Hurricanes in the Central Division standings with an 8-5-1-0 record.

They’ll head to Calgary on Monday for a tilt with the Hitmen at 7 p.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Red Deer will then head on a road trip through the U.S. and won’t be back home until Saturday, Nov. 23 when they take on the Victoria Royals.

“Right now the important one is tomorrow. We’ll have a nice 30-40 minute skate and prepare for Monday,” Struch said.