Heading into the game with the Ice, the Rebels passed the 20 game mark on Friday with their best record since 2011-12 when they went 14-4-0-2. This season the Rebels are 14-5-1-0 and own the third best points percentage in the entire Western Hockey League. They faced the Kootenay Ice, who entered the contest at 7-13-2-1, good for fifth in the Central Division, 12 points back of the division leading Rebels.
Peyton Krebs was a scratch from the lineup for this game. The ICE certainly missed his 27 points in 23 games.
16-year-old affiliate player Owen Pederson opened the scoring with his first WHL goal. It came just five minutes into the opening period. A pass from Blake Allen got through the Rebels defense pair and gave Pederson a short breakaway. He was able to beat Ethan Anders on just the third Ice shot.
A little over five minutes later the Rebels power play would work the puck around and around the Ice end for 44 seconds. A Brandon Hagel pass was redirected in front of the net by Jeff de Wit. It easily beat Jesse Makaj to return the game to an even score. It was de Wit’s 13th goal of the season, and eighth goal in his last nine games. De Wit has really earned himself a role on the top line by being in front of the net ready to redirect pucks or get rebounds behind goalies.
The second period started with another Kootenay goal, giving them their second lead of the night. A poor read by Ethan Sakowich at the Ice blue line gave Kootenay a 2-on-1 rush towards Anders. Connor McClennon used his partner as a decoy and hammered a shot past Anders on the stick side. It was the third goal of the season for the 2020 NHL draft eligible forward.
For the second time in this game the Rebels clawed back into a tie. This time it was Alex Morozoff scoring a tip in right in front. Zak Smith got the puck to Morozoff just a few feet in front of the Kootenay net and his stick perfectly placed the puck in the top shelf behind Makaj. It was Morozoff’s second goal in as many games.
On the very next Rebel’s power play they took their first lead of the game.
Reese Johnson got multiple attempts to get it by Makaj and he didn’t give up on the puck. He slid it through the goalie’s pads and it trickled beyond the goal line. It was Red Deer’s 28th shot on net and the game had seen just 34 minutes played.
Shortly after a Rebel penalty kill, the Ice had the Rebels hemmed in there own zone. With less than four minutes remaining in the second period, the puck bounced around the crease area before it landed on the stick of McClennon and he potted his second of the night.
The teams were tied once again.
“I think we stuck with it, obviously we weren’t happy with some areas in the first two periods. I think we regrouped after the first two and had a pretty good third” said Reese Johnson following the game.
“Part of it was turnovers, we turned pucks over in certain areas especially in the first two periods. Along blue lines and in the neutral zone, they are a really good transition team and if you don’t manage pucks the right way and you don’t support where the pucks are and get above the play and give up odd man rushes and that is what happened in the first two periods,” added had coach Brent Sutter
We were off to the third period, a three all tie with Red Deer leading the shot clock 28-23.
For the third time in two nights, the Rebels scored a shorthanded goal.
This goal comes off the stick of Reese Johnson, his second of the night. A pass from Hagel’s stick on a 2-on-1 hit a streaking Johnson and there was nothing Makaj could do to make the save. The Rebels had their second lead of the night.
On the same power play one minute and 15 seconds later, the Ice would score their fourth goal of the game to tie things up again. A point shot by Jonathan Smart made it through the traffic in front of Anders. The netminder could not see the puck and it made its way beyond the goal line. The seeing eye shot would send this game to overtime.
On the power play after a tripping call against Dallas Hines in overtime, Reese Johnson scored his third of the night. The Rebels worked the puck around masterfully and the pass to Johnson sailed to the back of the net on a wicked one timed shot. Hagel quietly collected his fourth assist of the night on the goal.
When asked about the overtime winner, Johnson’s third game winner this season he had this to say about it, “We practiced those types of situations in practice lots and obviously getting a one timer through the seam is pretty huge it was a nice pass from Hags (Brandon Hagel).”
Brent Sutter had a lot to say about the team following the game.
“It was a battle, it was a hard game.”
“You know as soon as one team would get momentum the other team would strike back and get the momentum back and even it up. Come off a game like we had last night (7-0 win over Kelowna) you’ve gotta park it and move on.”
“Your prep can’t be different than it was yesterday. We allowed ourselves a little bit of frustration set into our game in the first two periods. Some adversity from the way the game was being played. Some adversity from the coach. You learn from that and you get that stuff thrown at you and you gotta deal with it the right way. Like I told the kids after the second period. It’s not always going to be perfect for you. You have to fight through that stuff and you are going to get challenged and you gotta respond the right way. I thought in the third we were much better. We had to match their intensity and emotion in the third.”
Rebel Yell… Red Deer was 3-for-4 on the power play, it is now ranked third in the WHL at 26.4%. The Kootenay Ice were 1-for-2 on the power play and allowed the Rebels their seventh short handed marker of the season. The Rebels penalty kill is 15th in the WHL at 75.9%. Former Rebel Cameron Hausinger led the Ice in the faceoff dot going 9-for-15 while Reese Johnson was 16-of-23. Hausinger had 4 shots for the Ice while Johnson added nine for the Rebels. The next action for the Rebels is on Friday night as they head to Kootenay to face the Ice. Kootenay has a tilt this afternoon against the Moose Jaw Warriors at home.
