It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the Kootenay Ice got it done at home on Friday, overcoming the Red Deer Rebels 4-3 to snap a four-game losing streak.
Ryan Pouliot scored the game-winner with a snap shot on a two-man advantage, while Colton Veloso, Brett Davis and Keenan Taphorn also contributed on the score sheet.
“A huge win for us,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “A lot of reasons on a lot of different fronts, just to stop the bleeding, it feels like a long time since we’ve won a game and fortunately, a lot of our division has done the same thing, so we’ve been able to hold our spot.
“I think just for the player’s confidence, just for the real good atmosphere to work at it, keep battling and earn it, I thought that was huge.”
Red Deer replied with goals from Reese Johnson, Kristian Reichel and Sam Pouliot, the younger brother of the Ice rearguard, who tallied his first career WHL goal.
Kootenay netminder Bailey Brkin picked up his third career WHL win with 38 saves, while Riley Lamb stopped 31 shots in defeat for the Rebels.
While the sibling rivalry between the two Pouliot brothers was one of the storylines of the night, there was also the first hometown look at Cole Muir and Jonathan Smart, two players who were acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Regina Pats, along with a few draft picks, for Kootenay Ice captain Cale Fleury.
Smart is an 18-year-old defenceman with two years of WHL experience under his belt, while Muir is a 16-year-old rookie who made his league debut in Queen City in September.
Even though he hasn’t had too much exposure to his new players, Patrick says they both have potential.
“[Muir] is a 16-year-old who you can see is a big strong kid who’s gonna get better from playing,” Patricks said. “I can see just his basic skill set and what he brings — he’s going to be a big power forward, two-way kid who’s still very young and raw.”
Smart, the new face in the defensive corps, had himself a decent outing in his Ice debut while paired up with Martin Bodak.
“I liked his skating, he’s a river skater who can skate both ways,” said Patrick. “He’s not a big, physical defenceman, he’s just going to be a positional guy who can move the puck and skate.”
Smart said he was excited to make his debut in front of Cranbrook fans.
“It was a moment I’ll never forget,” he said. “Getting that win was pretty big, Red Deer and us are battling in the standings, so it’s good.”
Though the Ice got the win, it was the Rebels who took advantage of a slow Kootenay start, posting two quick goals to stun the hometown bench.
Johnson took advantage of a neutral zone turnover, skated into Ice territory on an odd-man rush, and sniped a wrist shot over Brkin’s glove.
The younger Pouliot talled his first WHL goal less than a minute later to double the Red Deer lead.
Despite the goal at the time, the elder Ice defenceman was proud of his little brother.
“I’m really happy for him,” said Ryan Pouliot. “It took me a year and a half, for him to get it his first year, it’s good, so I’m really happy for him.”
Grayson Pawlenchuk had a glorious chance to keep the pain coming after he was awarded a penalty shot from being hauled down on a break, but his backhander went wide.
In spite of the rough start, Kootenay got on the board late in the frame, when a streaking Peyton Krebs wired a hard pass cross-ice that was tipped in by Veloso.
Just over a minute into the second period, Brett Davis evened up the score from the slot, with Krebs picking up his second assist.
Kristian Reichel scored the go-ahead goal with a slick move, stealing the puck in the Ice zone, cutting across the crease and lifting a backhand over Brkin’s leg pad.
Heading into the middle frame, Taphorn got rewarded with a lucky bounce when he tried to centre the puck that deflected off a stick and went in.
In the final 10 minutes, Johnson got tagged on a double-minor for high-sticking. Just over a minute later, Brandon Schuldhaus joined him in the sin bin, giving Kootenay a two-man advantage for two full minutes.
Though the powerplay took a while with a few different looks, Pouliot eventually snapped a shot past Lamb from just below the blueline to post the game-winner.
“It was huge, said Pouliot. “We got a gift with that four minute powerplay, then we got the five-on-three, so I think it’s crucial that we get a goal there and ended up winning, so it was good.”
