The Kootenay Ice avoided a scare on Sunday against the Red Deer Rebels, forcing overtime with a late goal and tallying the game winner on a powerplay halfway through extra time.
Ice defenceman Cale Fleury scored the game winner with a slap shot that redirected past Rebels’ netminder Byron Fancy after Red Deer forward Alex Alexeyev got sent to the sin bin for interference.
“I thought we had some good looks, which is all you can ask for,” said Ice head coach James Patrick, of the overtime powerplay opportunity. “We had a couple chances where we got some free lanes to get the puck to the net. It’s a four-on-three powerplay, that doesn’t happen a lot but we still have worked on it. So I liked the looks we had, I thought we got a break at the end where there was a little collision and you didn’t know if they [referees] were going to make a call, but we ended up getting the puck back, got possession, got it over to Cale who has a great shot and got a free look.”
That collision, at the side of the Rebels net, had the Red Deer bench livid as the whole team stood up hollering for a tripping penalty.
The OT winner was Fleury’s second goal of the game, as the Kootenay captain also opened the scoring one minute into the first period.
Cameron Hausinger, Colton Kroeker and Alec Baer rounded out the scoring for the Ice, while Chris Douglas, Kristian Reichel, Austin Pratt and Reese Johnson hit the score sheet for the Rebels.
Kurtis Chapman got the call between the pipes, making 22 saves for the win, while Fancy, a call-up for Red Deer, made the same number of stops in defeat.
The Ice built up a 3-1 lead, but squandered it in the second period as the Rebels scored two quick goals to tie it up.
Fleury started off the scoring, shovelling in a loose puck in front of the crease just over a minute into the game. Red Deer tied it up six minutes later, when Chris Douglas sniped from the slot.
Hausinger broke the tie after a point shot from rookie defenceman Zach Patrick deflected off his skate, with the latter picking up his first career WHL point.
Kroeker padded the lead in the second period, driving hard to the net and tipping a hard pass from Baer top shelf.
But Red Deer wasn’t ready to call it quits.
Reichel and Pratt scored within two minutes to knot the affair back up to 3-3.
“Overall, the game had it’s ups and downs,” said Patrick. “I thought we played good, smart hockey to get the 3-1 lead. I think we’re still a bit of an immature team where we get leads like that, we decide to change our game. Our puck management was not very good, I thought, for the second half of the second period.”
Johnson scored the go-ahead goal for Red Deer late in the third period, who seemed poised for the win, but some quick work from Kroeker and Baer led to the equalizer less than 30 seconds later.
“Me and Kroeks, our line played really good all night so we weren’t too worried,” said Baer, who tallied the late game-tying goal. “We just went out and played the way we had all night and something good was bound to happen and it did right at the right time.”
Heading into overtime, the Ice won possession off the draw, but lost the puck deep in the zone as a three-on-one rush formed heading back into Kootenay territory. Baer flew back up the ice on the back-check, but Alexayev drifted in front of him, which caused a collision and got him penalized for interference.
The ensuing powerplay, a four-on-three due to overtime rules, got a few looks from the Kootenay special teams unit, and Fleury was able to put the game away with a shot from the point.
It’s the second stretch of back-to-back wins for the Ice, who are about to embark on a three game road trip out to the Prairies to face the Pats and the Wheat Kings.
The four-game homestand for the Ice netted three wins and one loss, as Patrick stressed the importance of matchup play.
“We don’t have the first-round NHL draft picks, the guys who a lot of people in the league feel are the superstars,” said Patrick. “We don’t have those guys. That’s why I really think we have to play matchup and have four lines going, so I just thought for us, it’s a good homestand. You look back over it, we beat some good teams and played against some really good players.
“So confidence, we can compete with a team as good as Red Deer, we should be able to compete with anyone in the East so I think it gives the players confidence and it gives me ammunition when they’re not playing that well.”
