(Taylor Lachance/Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

5-2

Rebels fall to Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings

Nov 28, 2025 | 10:10 PM

The Red Deer Rebels knew they were going to have their hands full going up against the top team in the Eastern Conference, and they received the Edmonton Oil Kings’ best effort in a 5-2 loss on Friday night.

In front of 3,521 fans at the Centrium, the Rebels had multiple chances in the third period in an effort to claw their way back in, but the Oil Kings stood strong.

“First of all, they’ve got a pretty good team,” said Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid. “I didn’t think we played our best, and I didn’t think we played our worst. When you play a team like that, you’ve got to be at your best, and we made some errors that cost us. That’s how it goes.”

Special teams appeared to be the difference. The Rebels had a power play goal but also gave up two power play markers to the Oil Kings on four opportunities.

“We can’t put them on the power play. I thought a couple of our penalties weren’t great, but you’re always going to get special teams involved. It had a little bit of a factor, but I thought five-on-five we were just . We were just disjointed a little bit, and sometimes that happens.”

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Oil Kings forward Max Curran got his team on the board first with 13:42 left in the opening period while on the power play.

His marker came just a few seconds into the man advantage when he hammered in a one-timer from the slot off the feed from Lukas Sawchyn.

Red Deer answered later in the frame with a goal from forward Ty Coupland. The Rebels’ tying goal also came on the power play with 5:26 left in the first period.

Forward Beckett Hamilton, who was standing in the middle of the offensive zone, completed a short pass to Coupland, who walked to the top of the right circle and fired a wrist shot past the goaltender.

However, Edmonton retook the lead just over a minute later when defenceman Ethan MacKenzie found the back of the net on a second effort. While falling, he managed to get off a shot to score his eighth of the year.

In the second period, the Oil Kings scored their second power-play goal of the evening in highlight-reel fashion. Forward Miroslav Holinka made a move around a Rebels defender on his way to the net before picking the top corner of the net.

Things went from bad to worse for the Rebels late in the middle period. With 5:30 left, the Oil Kings extended their lead to 4-1 after capitalizing on a three-on-one offensive rush, which was netted by forward Kayden Stroeder.

In the third period, the Rebels cut into the lead with a power play goal from defenceman Keith McInnis.

After a tip attempt in front of the net by Matthew Gard was turned aside, the puck was passed out to the point, where defenceman Nate Yellowaga fired it over to McInnis, who scored his sixth of the season.

The comeback effort, however, fell short after Curran netted an empty-netter late in the period.

Next up, the Rebels will head to Calgary for a tilt at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 2 p.m.

“We like our team, we’re progressing the right way, and we played to win tonight. Even in the third, we made it 4-2 and gave ourselves a chance,” Habscheid added. “A bounce here or there would have been 4-3, so we were right there. It wasn’t meant to be tonight, and tomorrow the sun will rise and away we go.”