By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Rebels end U.S. road trip with loss to Americans

Feb 19, 2019 | 11:13 PM

At one point this season the Red Deer Rebels were in first place in the WHL Central Division and in good shape to earn home ice advantage in the first round of playoffs.

Now, on the heels of a 1-3-2 road trip through the U.S. Division, the Rebels are in a fight for their playoff lives as they sit just two points up on Brandon for the second and final wildcard spot.

The latest setback for the Rebels came Tuesday night with a 6-3 loss to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Washington.

Red Deer held a 3-1 lead early in the third period before the Americans, who played in Kelowna the night prior before making the long bus ride home, erupted for five unanswered goals.

Brandon Hagel opened the scoring for the Rebels just 28 seconds into the first period. Parker Aucoin replied for Tri-City at 5:18 on a power play before Chris Douglas scored at 13:43 to give Red Deer a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes.

4-7 p.m. Wednesday

City to host downtown parking feedback session

17m ago

Albertafirebans.ca

Fire advisories, restrictions, and bans in place for much of central Alberta

1h ago

2024 Spring Rocket League Tournament

St. Patrick's Community School Esports team wins top spot in national tournament

18h ago

Neither team scored in period two.

Brett Davis gave the Rebels a 3-1 lead 1:12 into the third period with a power play goal, ending his team’s 0-for-20 power play drought.

That’s where the good news ended for Red Deer. Riley Sawchuk and Sasha Mutala scored one minute apart to tie the game 3-3. Less than 90 seconds later, Parker Aucoin made it 4-3.

Ten minutes after that, Kyle Olson made it 5-3. Krystof Hrabik capped off the carnage with an empty net goal with 1:40 left to play.

Ethan Anders took the loss for Red Deer (21 saves) while Beck Warm backstopped Tri-City to victory (36 saves).

Red Deer was 1-for-3 on the power play. Tri-City was 2-for-4.

This was just the second time all season that the Rebels have a lost a game in regulation time after leading through two periods.

The Rebels return to Alberta this weekend for a home and home series versus the Central Division leading Edmonton Oil Kings. The two teams will meet Friday at Rogers Place in Edmonton and Saturday at the Westerner Park Centrium.