(Image Credit: Taylor Lachance/Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

Three games remaining

Rebels fall to Hitmen in OT loss at home

Mar 14, 2026 | 9:36 PM

The Red Deer Rebels hit a small speed bump in their pursuit of the postseason on Saturday.

Despite holding a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Rebels fell 6-5 to the Calgary Hitmen in overtime.

Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid said after they got up early, he felt his team got too fancy and got away from their game.

“We thought we’d get 10 and got away from it a little bit. They got it to 3-2 and took it to us early in the second, but we survived. Then we got up two going into the third, which we would have taken. Then they got one five-on-five, and then the penalty we almost killed, they got a really good power play and tied it. And then won it on a bit of a flukey play in overtime,” Habscheid said.

“Taking everything into consideration, we had a pretty good defenceman out and playing two pretty good teams, we got three of four points. It’s not the worst situation. We would have liked both, but we’ll take three out of four and move on.”

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As a result, the Rebels are now three points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors for the eighth and final playoff spot with three games to go.

Rebels forward Kalder Varga led the way offensively with three goals, while forward Cameron Kuzma had a goal and three assists.

For the Hitmen, Red Deer native Harrison Lodewyk notched two goals and two assists. The Hitmen also scored two power-play goals on five opportunities.

“There’s ebbs and flows throughout the game, and Calgary’s a pretty good team. They got some good talent up front, and we’re shorthanded on the back end a little bit, and that plays into it,” Habscheid added. “The guys battled, but I knew when we were up three early, the game was far from over. They made a goalie switch, and that gave them some life… We got into extra time, and anything can happen. Last night it went our way, and tonight it went their way.”

The Rebels got on the board first with a rocket from forward Cameron Kuzma nearly two and a half minutes into the opening period.

A 🚀 to get us started! pic.twitter.com/s07MyQbHRZ

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 15, 2026

Forward Kalder Varga then extended the Rebels’ lead 18 seconds later when he fired a shot that redirected off a few bodies in front of the net and in.

Before the announcement was even done, Varga doubled the lead! pic.twitter.com/hYU9tvy6uf

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 15, 2026

Varga then scored his second of the game three minutes later following a fancy toe-drag move near the right circle.

VARGA x2! pic.twitter.com/Js45BmHN7O

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 15, 2026

Before the end of the first period, the Hitmen added two goals of their own, scored by Wyatt Pisarczyk at the midway point and Keaton Jundt with under a minute to go.

In the second period, the Rebels added onto their lead with a tally from Landon MacSwain, who was fed in front of the net by Kuzma.

MacSwain's got 12 this year! pic.twitter.com/tTMhNRDc4g

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 15, 2026

The Hitmen answered again 29 seconds later, with a redirection from Lodewyk on the power play.

Varga completed the hat trick with 6:52 to go in the second after he was sprung on a breakaway on a tape-to-tape stretch pass from Kuzma.

🗣️ THAT'S 3 FOR VARGA!!! 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/X1yCEmXRUE

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 15, 2026

In the third period, the Hitmen came within one once again with 12:55 remaining. Lodewyk notched his second of the game, knocking in his own rebound while crashing the net.

The Hitmen tied the game with 4:50 left, off the stick of Kale Dach, with 30 seconds left on a four-minute power play.

The Hitmen then scored with 32.7 seconds left in overtime to secure the victory.

Next up, the Rebels will head on the road to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. Red Deer will then wrap up the regular season in Medicine Hat on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Rebels injury notes: The Rebels were once again without defenceman Aleksey Chichkin, who suffered an injury in Tuesday’s game against Wenatchee. Forward Tyson Yaremko is also out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.