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The Saskatoon Blades vs the Red Deer Rebels at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, April 25, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Saskatoon Blades)
Heartbreak

Rebels season comes to an end after Game 7 loss to Blades

Apr 25, 2023 | 10:23 PM

In a do-or-die game, the Red Deer Rebels’ season came to an end Tuesday night with a 5-2 loss against the Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre.

Although the Rebels led the second round WHL playoff series with a three game lead in the best-of-seven, the Blades won the following four games in a historic comeback to earn a birth in the Eastern Conference final against the Winnipeg ICE who eliminated the Moose Jaw Warriors.

In the first period, the Rebels’ Hunter Mayo picked up the puck just passed the blue line to score his second goal this playoff season from the faceoff circle on Blades’ goaltender Austin Elliott. At 12:10, Kalan Lind and Jayden Grubbe claimed the assists, opening the score for the visiting team 1-0.

However, at 14:45, Saskatoon’s Connor Roulette tied the game 1-1 with an unassisted goal on Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey.

Both teams had 11 shots on goals after 20 minutes of play.

In the middle frame, Saskatoon’s Spencer Shugrue scored his second of the playoffs early on, bringing the Blades to a 2-1 lead with the assist coming from Conner Roulette at 5:41.

But less than two minutes later at 7:35, Red Deer’s Ryker Singer scored with a far side goal off a rebound from the corner boards. His first goal this playoff season was assisted by Kai Uchacz and Jace Weir, tying the game once again 2-2.

The Rebels outshot the Blades in the second period 8-5, for a two period total of 19-16 in favour of the Rebels to that point.

In the final period, the Blades’ Spencer Shugrue scored his second goal of the game and third of the playoffs within the first five minutes, bringing Saskatoon to a 3-2 lead.

Just 40 seconds later, Saskatoon’s Conner Roulette doubled the team’s lead to 4-2 with his second goal of the night and third of the playoffs, with Egor Sidorov claiming the assist.

Then with Rebels’ goaltender Kyle Kelsey pulled from the net at 18:25 to add the extra attacker, the Blades’ Vaughn Watterodt scored an empty netter with less than 30 seconds left to the game. Aidan Gorgendiere assisted on the play to help give the Blades a 5-2 victory.

The Blades outshot the Rebels in the third period 12-6 and 28-25 overall.

The Rebels went 0/2 on the power play while the Blades went 0/3 with the man advantage.

The Blades were awarded all three stars of the game with goaltender Austin Elliot, who saved 23 shots on goal, earning the third star. With two goals and one assist, Conner Roulette was awarded the second star while Spencer Shugrue was given the first star alongside his two goals for the evening.

Red Deer Rebels goaltender Kyle Kelsey shakes hands with Saskatoon Blades netminder Austin Elliott at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, April 25, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Saskatoon Blades)

During the 2022-23 regular season, the Rebels finished first in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 43-19-3-3. They ended their 12-game playoff season with seven wins and five losses.