With the teams making their way to Red Deer for games three and four of their opening round series, the Rebels found themselves behind the eight-ball. The Rebels lost the first two games by a combined 14-3 and their penalty kill was just 2-for-8. Something needed to change.
Maybe it would be the return of Alexander Alexeyev to the line-up. Having missed the last four weeks with an upper body injury, it was Red Deer’s hope he could be a difference maker.
The hockey gods had other ideas.
Just 30 seconds in the Rebels would appear to open the scoring. Mason McCarty found himself in front of the Hurricanes net and it was wide open. He put the puck in to make it 1-0, or so it was thought.
The referees took several minutes to discuss how the puck was able to get into the net. They decided that earlier in the play Mason McCarty had done enough to disturb Hurricanes netminder Logan Flodell. No goal.
Not more than a few moments later, Chris Douglas would take a tripping penalty deemed at its face as weak. The Hurricanes potent power play would not disappoint. They would score just 13 seconds into it. Taylor Ross would be credited with the goal after several whacks at Riley Lamb to force the loose puck over the line.
Playing short handed with 1:46 to go in the period, a Hurricane point shot was picked up and fed to Brandon Hagel. He was off to the races. He out raced Brad Morrison of the Hurricanes and snapped a shot past Flodell to tie the game.
After the first the Hurricanes had almost doubled up the Rebels in shots 13-7 but the score remained tied.
Hard work from the Hurricanes put the puck behind the Rebel net almost seven minutes into the second period. Lamb was down against the post and wasn’t able to get across fast enough to stop Zachary Cox from scoring top shelf on a pass from Owen Blocker.
The goal took the wind out of the sails of the fans in the building.
Reese Johnson’s clean hit at 8:40 of the second period resulted in getting cross-checked by Ty Prefontaine and a fight ensued. It was short-lived but the crowd got right back into it. Red Deer would earn another power play opportunity on the play.
But it was Lethbridge with the best chance and Lamb had to make a huge save on Dylan Cozens.
Seven minutes and four seconds after Lethbridge took the lead it was Kristian Reichel who walked in to the Hurricanes zone and just hammered a shot from the top of the circle past Flodell to re-tie the game. His opportunity came when McCarty continued to pester the Hurricanes defensemen in their zone and just got enough of the puck to put it into the clear. The goal was Reichel’s first of the playoffs.
Momentum was on Red Deer’s side when Hagel took a very late penalty for delay of game on an extremely long shift.
It would only take seven seconds for the Hurricanes to retake the lead and once again suck the air out of the rink. Brad Morrison would be the goal scorer when he received a pass from Calen Addison, walked into the high slot area and snuck a shot past everyone.
The teams would head down the tunnel with the Hurricanes up 3-2. They also led in shots by a 25-20 count.
With 7:31 to play a long lead feed from behind the Hurricanes net to Jordy Bellerive. He split the Rebels defensemen and shot the puck five-hole on Lamb.
The Hurricanes gained a two goal lead, their largest of the night.
It would take one minute and nine seconds for Red Deer to get themselves back in the game. Grayson Pawlenchuk took a feed from Alex Morozoff just inside the Hurricanes blueline and sniped a shot past Flodell. The Rebels trailed 4-3.
Then came an unbelievable series of events. The Rebels thought they scored with 1:09 to play. It was waved off on the ice immediately by the ref, who was in good position. While the play continued a Hurricane player then shot the puck over the glass.
The referees had to huddle and while they were doing so the overhead camera was shown in the building. The puck did appear to be over the line but Flodell’s glove was over top of it, rendering the video review inconclusive. The call on the ice would stand. No goal.
The Rebels did have some luck on their side though as they would head to the power play.
With Lamb on the bench the Rebels out manned the Hurricanes 6-to-4.
A faceoff win and Dawson Barteaux then slid the puck to a waiting Kristian Reichel. He blasted the puck past Flodell and the arena erupted as the unthinkable had happened. The Rebels forced overtime with just 47 seconds left on the clock.
But wait there is more. With about 10 seconds left to play, Brandon Hagel cut a little too close to Logan Flodell and he was charged with goalie interference as the buzzer sounded.
“Our pk (penalty kill) needs to be better and don’t take bad penalties” said Reichel when asked what the team needed to do tomorrow to win. “Be more simple on the power play and put everything on the net. Flodell didn’t look like the first two games.”
The Rebels had climbed all the way back.
But it would take just 38 seconds on the power play in overtime and the Hurricanes have a 3-0 series lead. Calen Addison’s point shot screamed through everyone and that was the game, 5-4 in overtime.
Special teams were the difference in this one as the Hurricanes went 3-for-5 on the power play and the Rebels were just 1-for-5.
“Well it definitely comes down to special teams again. You they get three power play goals, obviously our penalty killing isn’t doing the job for us. We had power play opportunities, we scored to even the game up at the end but our power play wasn’t good up to that point.” said Head Coach Brent Sutter post-game.
“Really it’s been the difference in the series,” said Sutter, referring to the now 9-for-13 power play of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes lead the series 3-0 and can put the series to rest tomorrow night at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer.
