(Taylor Lachance/ Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

5-4 loss

Rebels fall to Broncos in final game before Christmas break

Dec 17, 2024 | 10:16 PM

Christmas came early for the Swift Current Broncos.

That was Red Deer Rebels head coach Dave Struch’s summary of a frustrating 5-4 loss to the Broncos on Tuesday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Red Deer gave up three goals in the first period after scoring the first two and were unable to fully recover, despite a big push at the end.

Struch said an abundance of turnovers were their downfall in the final game before the Christmas break.

“We were just fine defensively. I think the way we managed the puck and we gifted them the puck all night,” he said.

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“It wasn’t a matter of anything other than that. The inconsistencies of our puck management. Christmas came early for Swift tonight.”

The Rebels got on the board first with 14:35 left in the opening period. in the offensive zone, the Broncos misplayed the puck behind the net and after it redirected out front, rookie Beckett Hamilton was there to fire it past the goaltender.

Just over two minutes later, forward Trae Wilke extended the Rebels lead by scoring his second goal in as many games. He walked in and fired a wrist shot past the goalie who was screened by Kalan Lind.

However, the Broncos answered with three straight goals to lead heading into the intermission.

Their first came less than a minute after the Rebels goal. Forward Ty Coupland knocked in the lose puck after a scramble in front of the net.

Swift Current found the equalizer later in the period scored by Luke Mistelbacher who finished off a passing play from the side of the net.

A minute and 20 seconds after that the Broncos took a 3-2 lead before the end of the period following a point shot from Connor Gabriel with just under five minutes left.

The Broncos extended their lead with a pair of goals within a minute of eachother in the second period. The first came with 5:04 left in the second frame scored by Clarke Caswell on the powerplay followed by a goal from Parker Rondeau.

Red Deer scored early in the third period to inch closer to the Broncos lead. With 16:32 remaining, forward Kalan Lind capitalized on a one-timer from the top of the left circle off a pass from Steven Steranka.

Lind scored again with 40.4 seconds left in the game on the powerplay after he tipped in a point shot from defenceman Hunter Mayo.

However, they were unable to notch the equalizer despite a big push at the end of the game.

“We were up two by not doing things the right way and we had a good push in the second period for five-six minutes and then we took a seat and gave things back to them,” Struch added.

“It’s very disappointing. It’s not the way you want to leave for Christmas. The guys need to get home, reset, re-focus, and re-energize because the second half of the year is coming. We are still in the mix with everybody… For us to have a chance we have to play a certain way. That’s the message to the guys right now. They have to take a good look in the mirror and we all do because we have to stay in it.”

Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke finished with 30 saves on 35 shots and Broncos Joey Rocha made 39 saves.

The Rebels will return to the ice on Friday, Dec. 27 when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings at 7 p.m. at the Centrium. The break is much needed for Red Deer who’s currently without Ollie Josephson, Jhett Larson, and Samuel Drancak to injury.