The beginning of a long road trip for the Rebels started in Regina as the team was set to face the Pats in the first of a seven game road trip. They would welcome Lukus MacKenzie, freshly brought over from the Saskatoon Blades, to the team. Ethan Anders would make another start in net for the Rebels while Tyler Brown would get the start in net for the Pats.
Again the Rebels would find themselves in penalty trouble. Austin Pratt and Lukus MacKenzie would take penalties within the first six minutes of the first period. The penalty killers were sharp in the first 40 minutes, killing off all four minor penalties and adding a short handed goal by Kristian Reichel. That goal would put the Rebels up 2-0, Austin Pratt having scored the first goal of the game at 9:24.
Before the end of the period the Regina Pats would get back to within one. Josh Mahura would give the Rebels fits yet again when he would score his first of the night and sixth of the season.
Because the Rebels had spent so much time killing penalties the Pats would fire 22 shots at Ethan Anders in the first 20 minutes. The Rebels would manage 11 shots on Tyler Brown. The period would end with the Rebels hanging on to a 2-1 lead.
The second period was barely underway when Jack Flaman would record his sixth goal of the season. The Rebels would hold a 3-1 lead just 1:34 into the second period. Little did we know, this would be the last goal of the game for the Rebels.
The parade to the penalty box would continue for the Rebels, this time though the Pats would make them pay. Just over a minute into their fifth power play, Jonathan Smart would score his second goal of the season to cut the Rebel lead to 3-2. The Pats were not done there, they would add a second power play goal on their sixth opportunity at 15:36. Once again Josh Mahura would score on his former team tying the game up at 3. Mahura is making his case for the Canadian World Junior team and has played well against the Rebels this season, it was has fourth goal in three games against them.
The Pats would give the Rebels life in the third period by taking penalties of their own. The Rebels power play unit would be unsuccessful all evening though and would not seize the chance to take the lead. Once again Red Deer would go the the penalty box and the Pats would seal the fate of the Rebels. McCarty’s second penalty in a row would result in Matt Bradley getting his 14th goal of the season. The goal would put Regina in the driver’s seat with a 4-3 lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish despite giving the Rebels a fourth power play chance with just 2:51 to go in the game.
The final score would be Red Deer 3 Regina 4. Final shots in this one were 48 for Regina and 28 for Red Deer. The Red Deer power play would go 0-for-4 while the penalty kill would go just 4-f0r-7.
Rebel Yell… The three stars in this one were 1) Josh Mahura 2) Ethan Anders 3)Matt Bradley. Lane Zablocki had 5 shots on net for the Rebels while Josh Mahura of the Pats led all skaters with 6. Sam Steel was 15-of-22 in the faceoff dot for the Pats. Reichel was 11-of-16. The Rebels travel to Swift Current to faceoff with the Broncos tonight at 7PM in the second game of the road trip. Newcomer Lukus MacKenzie played on a line with Reese Johnson and Hunter Donohoe. Former Rebel Dawson Martin was re-assigned to the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL.
