It was not a good start for the Brandon Wheat Kings, coming off a 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings. Their starting goaltender Ethan Kruger went down with an injury just over two minutes into the game.
The bad news continued for the Wheat Kings as the Rebels took the lead seven minutes into the contest.
Chris Douglas was very aware of the play in the Wheat Kings’ end of the ice. With linemate Josh Tarzwell headed towards the net, Douglas fired a shot at Jiri Patera. The screen was just enough to make the netminder miss and the Rebels had the first lead.
The Wheat Kings figured things out a little over three minutes later.
With Brandon on a man-advantage, they tied the game up on a shot that bounced around the crease area. Eventually, Ridly Greig received credit for the goal as he was the last Wheat King to touch the puck before it made it behind Ethan Anders. Greig now has 18 goals on the season.
Red Deer’s hard work shifted the momentum back in their favour with the fourth line out on the ice.
With 3:55 to play in the opening frame, Dallon Melin caught a great pass from Jace Isley as he headed to the crease. He made the Wheat Kings pay, firing a shot low blocker side on Patera. It was Melin’s sixth goal of the season and the Rebels put themselves out in front again.
The second period didn’t start well for the Rebels as Zak Smith collided with Connor Gutenberg and was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct for boarding. With another Rebel already in the box, the Wheat Kings had 1:06 of five-on-three time.
Once the Rebels killed off their first penalty, they were able to turn on the jets and headed quickly into the Wheat King end of the ice. With Ben King and Arshdeep Bains streaking towards Patera, a give and go resulted in Bains’ 16th goal of the season with 14:43 to play in the second period. It was Bains’ third short-handed goal of the season.
With 5:31 to play in the middle stanza and the Wheat Kings continued pressure, they finally cracked Anders. Ben McCartney corralled a pass by Greig from behind the net and only had Anders to beat. He made no mistake on the shot and Brandon was back to within a goal.
The third period was a see-saw affair.
A hard-working shift for the Wheat Kings resulted in a Luka Burzan goal on the rush. Flying up the wing with the puck, Burzan picked his spot and went bar down on Anders. His 27th goal of the season tied the game at three with 15:19 to play.
Sneaking in from the point Christoffer Sedoff hammered a shot from the top of the faceoff dot past Patera to return the Rebel lead to one goal. The pass from Bains came from behind the net after a spin-o-rama, giving Sedoff four goals on the season.
Brandon continued to look for the equalizer.
Six seconds into a late power play the Wheat Kings Cole Reinhardt tied the game with a wrist shot. With Anders screened, Reinhardt collected his 25th goal of the season. There was just 2:34 left to play.
Seconds later Ben King dangled around a Wheat Kings forward and went glove high under the bar on Patera. Red Deer had the lead back with 2:01 to play.
Despite pulling Patera in the games closing moment, they just couldn’t pull the trigger on a big goal. The final score was 5-4 Red Deer.
