Rebels battle back but Hitmen prevail in OT

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“That’s why we’re learning right now,” Kisio said after the game.

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“I thought we got better as the game went along. I thought we had a little bit of a slow start. Calgary’s a good team; you know, they skate well, they move pucks, and they got a lot of speed on their team. We were a little slow to respond, but once we got our feet going in the second and third periods, we played a lot better.”

The first goal of the game didn’t come until 2:39 into the third period when Hitmen forward Brennan Brown tucked in the rebound from the right side of the net after a shot from Wyatt Piscarczyk on the man advantage.

Just over two minutes later, the Hitmen took a 2-0 lead after Calder Hamilton tipped a point shot past the netminder.

However, the Rebels didn’t go away quietly, with 12:57 to go, Kuzma hopped on the loose puck in the offensive zone and fired a shot from the left circle that beat the out-of-position goaltender.

Shortly after, the Rebels tied it up when rookie Paxson Madill forced a turnover in the offensive zone. After Madill passed it over to Kuzma, he made the extra pass to Poul Andersen, who fired it in from the slot.

That sent the game to overtime, where the Hitmen took advantage of their opportunity.

Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro started the game and stopped all 15 shots faced, while goalie Nathan Salisbury stopped 15 of 17 shots.

Kisio said he liked what he saw from his goalies.

“Both goalies played really well. Calgary has a lot of speed, and they were challenging our defence on the outside,” Kisio said. “They were getting around us a bit, and luckily we had some good goalies in net tonight playing well.”

Furthermore, both teams finished the game with 35 shots apiece, but the Hitmen had the edge in special teams, scoring two power-play goals. The Rebels had one power-play opportunity but did not score.

Next up, the Rebels will head to Lethbridge on Thursday, Sept. 10, to face the Hurricanes before the preseason finale on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Centrium against the Edmonton Oil Kings at 7 p.m.