By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Rebels drop fifth in a row, 5-2 to Edmonton

Feb 23, 2019 | 8:52 PM

After a tough run through the U.S. Division, the Red Deer Rebels finally returned home to play at the Westerner Park Centrium Saturday night.

Unfortunately, the return to friendly confines didn’t change their fortunes of late as the Rebels fell 5-2 to the WHL Central Division leading Edmonton Oil Kings.

Vince Loschiavo opened the scoring for Edmonton 12:09 into the opening period with a shot that went in and out of the net so quickly that video review was needed to confirm the goal.

Edmonton led 2-0 just under four minutes later after Parker Galvas beat Rebels goalie Ethan Anders for his first goal of the season.

The Oil Kings scored the lone goal of the second period when Trey Fix-Wolansky ripped home his 30th goal of the season at the 9:01 mark.

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The third period didn’t start much better for the Rebels as defenceman Dawson Barteax coughed up the puck in front of his net and Andrei Pavlenko picked it up and beat Anders to make it 4-0.

Less than a minute after that goal, at the 2:27 mark, the Rebels finally got on the board as Ethan Sakowich scored a shorthanded goal, his second goal of the season. Jeff de Wit, who won the offensive zone faceoff to set up the goal, earned the lone assist.

But Edmonton quashed any hopes of a Red Deer comeback when Vladimir Alistrov, left wide open in the slot, fired one past Anders to make it 5-1.

Oleg Zaytsev added another shorthanded goal for Red Deer with three seconds left to play.

Anders made 28 saves for the Rebels before giving way midway through the third period to Byron Fancy, who made three saves.

Dylan Myskiw turned in another solid performance for Edmonton with 21 saves on the night.

Edmonton was 1-for-7 on the power play while Red Deer was 0-for-4.

The Rebels failed to pull even with the Brandon Wheat Kings for the final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference. The Wheat Kings fell 7-1 to league leading Prince Albert Saturday night.

The Rebels now head back out on the road as they kick off a four-game Saskatchewan road trip Tuesday night versus Moose Jaw (7 p.m. on 106.7 THE DRIVE).