By Kael Clark

WHL

Struggling penalty kill costs Rebels in 4-3 loss to Lethbridge

Oct 23, 2019 | 9:20 AM

The Lethbridge Hurricanes held off a late comeback surge Tuesday night to defeat the Red Deer Rebels 4-3 at the Westerner Park Centrium.

The Hurricanes were gifted the first of many powerplays midway through the first period and took full advantage on a hard snapshot from the point that was tipped home by Dino Kambeitz at the 12:12 mark for a 1-0 Lethbridge lead.

Red Deer got their turn on the powerplay in the second period to set up a goal to remember for Jayden Grubbe. The 16-year-old picked up his first in the WHL with a nice snipe coming down the right wing that beat Bryan Thomson far side for a 1-1 game.

Less than two minutes later, Justin Hall would smack the puck in the back of the net to regain the lead 2-1 for Lethbridge early into their third powerplay opportunity.

The Hurricanes continued to have a great night on special teams with yet another powerplay goal from Koletrane Wilson on a hard slap shot from the top of the point to make it 3-1

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The first even stength goal of the tilt came from Oliver Okuliar at 14:35 of period two for a 4-1 Hurricanes lead.

Red Deer was back on the man advantage late in the middle frame period. And with his dad in attendance, Austin, Manitoba native Zak Smith tipped a shot from the point past Thomson to cut the lead into two. Red Deer was out shooting Lethbridge 20-18 after two periods of play.

Red Deer then made things very interesting with an even strength goal from Smith 6:27 into the third period.

After pulling the goalie, Lethbridge shut down the Rebels chances defensively and escaped a 4-3 win for their fifth straight triumph while also handing the Rebels their fifth straight loss.

Brett Davis picked up the third star of the game with assists on all three Rebels goals and winning 19 out of 25 faceoff draws. Smith was awarded first star of the game with his two-goal effort.

The Rebels outshot the Hurricanes 29-27. Lethbridge had a great night on special teams going 3-for-4 on the powerplay, meanwhile Red Deer went 2-for-5 on their extra man advantage chances.

“Obviously our penalty killing wasn’t good enough tonight,” said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.

“Five-on-five it was probably the best game we’ve played all year. I thought we did a really good job,” he felt. “But again, we’ve had seven games at home and we’ve won one. That’s 14 points and we’ve got three.

“Obviously our home record isn’t even close to where we need it to be,” Sutter said about his team’s dismal 1-5-0-1 record at the Centrium.

Red Deer will be hungry when they welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds for the first and only time this season Friday night. It’ll be their final home game before heading out of town while the CFR and Agri-Trade take over Westerner Park. Game at the Centrium is at 7 p.m. with the pre-Game show set to start at 6:30 p.m. on 106.7 The Drive.