(Photo by Taylor Lachance/ Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

Third period boost

Rebels snap six-game skid with win over Victoria Royals

Nov 23, 2024 | 10:28 PM

The Red Deer Rebels scored four goals in the third period to propel them to a 7-3 victory over the Victoria Royals.

The win, which was in front of 5,054 fans at the Peavey Mart Centrium – their biggest crowd of the season so far, snapped a six game losing skid.

Hunter Mayo, Jaxon Fuder, and Jhett Larson all finished with two points each and goaltender Chase Wutzke made 41 saves on 44 shots.

Head coach Dave Struch said they worked on a few things this week that they did well in the first period and after an unsatisfactory second frame, he called the third period a great learning experience for his team.

“In the way we talk about our identity and the way we need to play… Everyone was consistent from start to finish. We see what it takes to win a hockey game and we did it,” he said.

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“We worked on [our scoring this week] and they beared down tonight and got some pucks into the back of the net.”

The Rebels came out flying in the first period.

Nearly five minutes into the game, rookie forward Beckett Hamilton fired a shot into the top left corner from the right slot off the feed from Steven Steranka.

Not even eight minutes into the game, Rebels forward Kalan Lind was tossed for a hit to the head on Royals Nolan Stewart. Red Deer was also handed a five-minute penalty for intent to injure for the hit.

This was Lind’s first game back since Oct. 9 when he suffered a lower-body injury against Medicine Hat.

With 3:43 left in the opening period, rookie forward Jaxon Fuder tipped a shot past goaltender Spencer Michnik after a massive penalty kill. Defenceman Matteo Fabrizi fired a low shot on net, which was redirected by Fuder into the top of the net.

Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke was in top form early making 17 saves in the first period including some important ones on the five-minute penalty kill.

The Royals finally got on the board with a shorthanded goal with 5:55 left in the second period. While streaking down the left side of the ice, forward Hayden Moore fired a shot on net that beat Wutzke low on his blocker side. It was nearly a four-on-four goal but the Rebels penalty had just expired giving them a powerplay.

However, it didn’t take long for the Rebels to respond. Captain Ollie Josephson made it 3-1 for Red Deer after he capitalized on his toe-drag move just 22 seconds after the Royals tally.

Victoria then scored two straight to tie the game at three before the end of the second period.

The first came with just under three minutes left in the frame, tipped in front by Caleb Matthews off a Justin Kipkie shot. After Matthews tipped it, it bounced off the ice and past Wutzke.

In the final minute, Markus Loponen tied the game knocking in the puck into the open net off a big rebound on the left side.

Red Deer was outshot by the Royals for the second straight period 36-19 heading into the final period.

Rebels came out strong with an early goal in the third period. Rebels forward Trae Wilke fired in a shot from slot off the feed from Matthew Gard, just 1:30 into the final frame.

Fuder notched his second of the game with just over eight minutes left after he intercepted a pass in the offensive zone and put it in the back of the net.

Struch said Fuder had struggled as of late with creating offence but tonight he played well without the puck that created more opportunities for him.

Speaking with the rookie after the game, Fuder said the team responded well tonight after a rough road trip.

“It was nice to get a couple of goals and I couldn’t have done it without all the boys. Everyone contributed and out of that we got a win,” he said.

“They put up three goals in the second period and we came in and thought we had to come back with something. I think we responded really well putting in four goals to get the win.”

Rebels sealed the deal with goals nearly 40 seconds between another from Matthew Gard and Carson Birnie that gave Red Deer a 7-3 lead.

Gard’s came 13:39 minutes into the period followed by a powerplay tally by Birnie 39 seconds later.

The Rebels will now head to Edmonton on Sunday for a matchup with the Oil Kings at 4 p.m.

“That’s a good thing,” Struch added. “It’s good for us to feel good about the third period and build off that.”

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