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The Red Deer Rebels' Kai Uchacz at the Scotiabank Saddledome playing against the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday night. (Terence Leung)
6-1 Victory

Rebels take 3-1 series lead in win over Hitmen

Apr 5, 2023 | 11:20 PM

The Red Deer Rebels have put the Calgary Hitmen in a must-win situation following a 6-1 victory over the home team at the Scotiabank Saddledome Wednesday night.

The win puts the Rebels up three games to one in their best-of-seven first round WHL playoff series.

In the first period, although both teams had power play opportunities, none were capitalized on after 20 minutes of play. The Rebels, however, greatly outshot the Hitmen 18-8.

In the middle frame, it was the Hitmen who scored first at the 5:30 mark when Ethan Moore lit the lamp on a power play goal, beating Rebels goaltender Kyle Kelsey as Ben King sat in the box for tripping.

The Rebels responded soon afterwards though when Ben King earned a power play goal on Calgary netminder Brayden Peters with a one-timer at 8:04, following a roughing penalty to the Hitmen’s David Adaszynski. Mats Lindgren and Kai Uchacz assisted on the play to tie the game 1-1.

Then, even with Red Deer’s Matteo Fabrizi sent to the box for hooking, Ollie Josephson scored a shorthanded goal from the slot just one minute later, with the help of Jayden Grubbe and Jhett Larson to make it 2-1 Red Deer.

Then it was back-to-back shorthanded goals for Red Deer when Jhett Larson tapped in a backhander at the crease. With one and a half minutes remaining in the period, the Rebels now led 3-1, with the second shortie assisted by Jayden Grubbe.

And in the final 30 seconds of the second period, the Rebels’ Hunter Mayo added to Red Deer’s lead, scoring at 19:28 to make it 4-1 heading into the break. Mats Lindgren and Ollie Josephson were credited with the assists.

The Rebels outshot the Hitmen once again in the second period, 17-13, for a two-period total of 35-21.

In the final period, the Rebels further solidified their impending victory when Ben King scored his second goal of the playoffs at 5:56. It was a power play goal assisted by Mats Lindgren and Jayden Grubbe, giving the Rebels a 5-1 lead following a roughing penalty to Calgary’s Trey Patterson 19 seconds earlier.

Taking advantage of yet another power play opportunity, Red Deer’s Kai Uchcaz then scored his fourth goal in the playoffs at 12:09, assisted by Ben King and Mats Lindgren for a 6-1 final.

Although the Hitmen switched goaltenders, putting in Ethan Buenaventura, it did not help their case.

The Hitmen outshot the Rebels 16-6 in the third period but Red Deer outshot Calgary 41-17 overall.

The Rebels went 3/7 on the power play while the Hitmen went 1/11 with the man advantage.

The Rebels earned all three stars this game with Ben King receiving the third star for his two goals and one assist. Mats Lindgren was awarded the second star for four assists while Jayden Grubbe who had three assists was given the first star of the game.

The Rebels will play their fifth game of the series against the Hitmen this Good Friday, April 7, at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND Radio.