(File photo rdnewsNOW staff)

By Ian Gustafson

U.S. road trip

Red Deer Rebels blown out 7-2 by Americans

Nov 9, 2024 | 10:11 PM

The Red Deer Rebels went down early and weren’t able to fully recover in a 7-2 loss to the Tri-City- Americans.

This is now their second-straight loss to begin their six-game road trip through the U.S. Division.

Jordan Gavin, Jake Sloan, Carter Savage, Brandon Whynott, and Carter MacAdams all had multi-point performances for the Americans.

The Rebels outshot their opponents 49-28 but struggled to find the back of the net and were held scoreless on six powerplay attempts.

Whynott got his team on the board just 6:20 into the game on the powerplay. Over three minutes later, Tri-City forward Grady Martin made it 2-0 near the midway mark.

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However, the Rebels cut the Americans lead in half when forward Samuel Drancak beat the goaltender through the five hole with under nine minutes left in the opening period.

Shortly after, emotions boiled over at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Washington.

At the 13:40 mark, Rebels captain Ollie Josephson and Grady Martin went off for fighting. Martin was also handed a 10-minute game misconduct and additional penalties for instigating and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Meanwhile, Rebels Derek Thurston and Americans Cash Koch went off for roughing. The whole ordeal started after Thurston laid a big hit in the neutral zone, which was determined to be a penalty.

The Americans extended their lead just over 35 seconds later when Sloan beat goaltender Rhett Stoesser for a shorthanded goal.

Things went from bad to worse for the Rebels after Whynott scored his second of the game 21 seconds later for another shorthanded tally.

That marked the end of Stoesser’s evening after he allowed four goals on 10 shots. Goaltender Chase Wutzke replaced Stoesser to start the second period.

The Rebels responded late in the middle frame as rookie forward Beckett Hamilton stole the puck from a Tri-City defender. He fed Cohen Poulin with just under three minutes to go who fired one into the back of the net.

Unfortunately, the Rebels got a bit of bad luck before the end of the period. Approximately 50 seconds after Red Deer’s goal, Americans forward Gavin Garland scored on a bizarre bounce that ended up going off Wutzke and in.

In the third period, Tri-City put the game away adding a pair of goals from Jordan Gavin and Jake Gudelj.

Next up for the Rebels, they’ll play the Everett Silvertps on Monday at 8:05 p.m. followed by a matchup with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m.