Paul Figler

Home opener successful for the Red Deer Rebels in bunches

(Red Deer. AB)It was a night to remember for the Red Deer Rebels faithful as the team walked away with a thrilling 7-3 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.

As was to be expected, both teams took a few minutes to feel each other out, neither taking a shot for the first two and a half minutes.

An early power play chance for the Rebels came and went after Davis Murray was called for interference. Murray barely had a toe on the ice before Austin Pratt pounded home a rebound. The shot came from the right faceoff dot, supplied by Brandon Hagel. Kristian Reichel would be credited with the second assist.

The game would then turn into a physical affair, with players on both sides pushing and shoving after the whistle. This would lead to a few penalties to both teams. Captain Grayson Pawlenchuk weighed in after the game “We let off a bit and got into the chirping and stuff with them. We just need to stay within our game.”

Before the end of the period, Mason McCarty would score his first goal of the season on a great drop pass from Brandon Hagel. McCarty would make a nice cut around the Oil King defender and tuck home the puck. The period would end 2-0 for Red Deer and they would lead in shots at 16-13.

The Rebels would start the second getting themselves into a little bit of penalty trouble. The penalty killers were doing a great job clearing pucks and not allowing the Oil Kings to set up in front of the net. They were also blocking passing lanes which led to an exciting rush down the ice for Akash Bains and Reese Johnson. Johnson would get a decent shot past Travis Child after Bains made a pass through a defender while sliding on his knees. A three-goal lead was born and the Rebels would not look back.

At 13:37 of the second period, Brandon Hagel, freshly back from Buffalo Sabres NHL camp, scored the eventual game winner. Rebels defenseman Alexander Alexeyev would find Hagel wide open on the doorstep to put the Rebels up 4-0.

The rough play would continue throughout the period and would result in Edmonton getting their first goal of the new season on the Power Play. A quick feed from Will Warm to Trey Fix-Wolansky would create an odd-man rush and Fix-Wolansky would out wait the Rebel defender, lifting a pass just over the diving player. It was an easy shot that would glance off the stick of Andrei Pavlenko and past Rebels starting goalie Lasse Petersen. The goal would cut the lead down to three before the end of the middle frame. The period would end with Brandon Hagel getting hit hard by an Edmonton Oil King and more rough stuff.

The third period started with another play between Trey Fix-Wolansky and Andrei Pavlenko. The result would see Pavlenko scoop up the puck in the slot and put one home. This would be as close as the Oil Kings would come on this night as Grayson Pawlenchuk of the Rebels would go on to score on a power play with 7:25 to play. Davis Koch added a score for the Oil Kings making it a 5-3 contest. The Red Deer Rebels scored two more goals in the final five and half minutes to seal it and take this one 7-3. The Rebels would out shoot the Oil Kings 43-34.

Rebel Yell… Five Red Deer Rebels would post three points on opening night Alexeyev (0G, 3A) McCarty, Hagel, Reichel and Pratt (1G,2A). Trey Fix-Wolansky had three assists for the Oil Kings. The three Stars were Pawlenchuk, Reichel and Alexeyev. Reese Johnson scored his first goal since January 20th, 2016. 10 different Rebels hit the scoresheet. Red Deer won 50-of-74 faceoffs. After the game Head Coach Brent Sutter said he was happy with the leadership group’s play. The next action for the Red Deer Rebels is tomorrow afternoon in Edmonton as they make their way up the QE2 for a 4:00PM start. The next home game for the Rebels is on October 7th when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings.