Dallon Melin celebrates his game-tying goal in the third period at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer on Feb. 19, 2022. (Rob Wallator/Red Deer Rebels

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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Rebels’ superstar duo spurs massive comeback win

Feb 19, 2022 | 9:55 PM

It was a close one at the Centrium in Red Deer Saturday night where the hometown Rebels somehow found a way to defeat the Winnipeg Ice by a final score of 3-2.

Coming in, Red Deer (30-15-2-1) and Winnipeg (32-6-2-1) had played three times this season, the Ice winning all three meetings, and by a combined score of 14-7. Going back five years, Winnipeg owns Red Deer, going 10-3-0-1 against them, excluding tonight.

Red Deer also came in sitting second in the Central, with Winnipeg tops in the East, and ranked #1 in the CHL top 10 rankings.

“The guys are excited in there. They played hard right from the start, and didn’t get frustrated when they could have,” said Head Coach Steve Konowalchuk post-game.

“It’s a good experience for our guys to realize (they need to just) play their game. Give yourself a chance. The biggest thing tonight was the penalties, but our guys battled really hard and deserve the win.”

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Red Deer went 0/3 on the man advantage, with Winnipeg scoring twice on seven tries.

The visitors got on the board first Saturday, Zachary Benson (17th) scoring at 7:44 of the first. The goal was their first power play marker as Jace Isley sat in the box for high sticking.

Jack Finley doubled Winnipeg’s lead at 5:19 of the second, once again on the power play with Jackson van de Leese penalized for tripping.

Down 2-0 headed to the final frame, Red Deer had work to do, and they got off on the right foot.

Just 90 seconds in, Ben King (36th) added another goal to his WHL-leading tally, with an assist to Arshdeep Bains, which tied him for the league-lead in points at 70.

Then, at 8:12, Red Deer equalized — Dallon Melin (6th) finding net, with Christoffer Sedoff and Liam Keeler assisting.

A few minutes later, the Rebels’ dynamic duo was at it again, as Ben King (37th) notched his second of the night, Bains once again getting the helper, at 11:06. That goal stood up as the improbable game-winner.

Bains will go to bed tonight with 71 points on the season — and in 49 games played — one ahead of Saskatoon’s Kyle Crnkovic who was held pointless in a 9-1 loss to Edmonton Saturday night. Bains’s 168 career points puts him 15th on the Rebels’ all-time points list, one behind Brad Leeb.

King’s league-best 37 goals are three better than Everett’s Jackson Berezowski, and he now has 74 in his WHL career, 13th most in Rebels history, surpassing tonight Turner Elson, Evan Polei and Brad Leeb. Colin Fraser also had 74.

King and Bains were named first and third stars, respectively, with Winnipeg’s Jack Finley earning second star honours.

After getting just four shots in the opening frame, Red Deer outshot Winnipeg overall 25-24. Winnipeg went 2/7 on the man advantage, and Red Deer went 0/3.

Next up for the Rebels is game three of a current four-game homestand, and they’ll face the lowly, but feisty Prince Albert Raiders, who sit last in the East Division with a record of 17-26-2-1. That game goes Friday, Feb. 25 at the Centrium with puck drop at 7, and the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND Radio at 6:30.