Today’s Gameday Preview: Tuesday February 19th, 2019

DUBNetwork feature game of the night: Rebels @ Americans 7:05 PM PST

The Red Deer Rebels continue their US Division road trip tonight against the Tri-City Americans. Both of these teams are sitting in playoff spots coming into tonight’s game, however there could be a lot of movement in the standings depending on how the points get handed out tonight.

The Red Deer Rebels (29-21-4-1) are looking to make a return into the win column and try and salvage their road trip before things get too far out of hand. The team dropped their last two games, the latest a 2-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Portland Winterhawks. The Rebels have slipped to 2-6-2-0 in their last ten games, and are close to slipping out of the playoff picture in the East. The Brandon Wheat Kings are only two points back now for that final Wild Card spot after coming alive in their last handful of games.

WHL Standings

The reasons for those losses in recent games coming from a mix of finish against Portland, to some poor team defense in the second period against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Something that needs to be fixed if the Rebels are going to come out of tonight’s contest winners against a Tri-City team who makes you pay when given the chance.

The Tri-City Americans (31-21-2-1) are in a bit of a different race, with no threat of being eliminated from playoff contention in the near future. The Americans sit in fourth place in the US Division just one point back of the idle Spokane Chiefs for third spot. That is a big spot to take considering the Americans could be playing the Vancouver Giants if playoffs started before puck drop tonight. If the Americans were in the Chiefs position, they would be playing Portland in round one.

Doug Westcott

The Americans 7-3-0-0 run in their last ten games has helped them catch up to the Chiefs a lot faster than first thought. A big part of the latest Americans success has been Kyle Olson. The Calgary native has seven points in his last three games including a hat-trick performance against the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday night. Born in 1999, this is Olson’s fourth season in the league. Last season, Olson only suited up in 36 games and managed 18 points. This season, a brand new story as he has 59 points in 51 games played.

Expected in net:

  • Ethan Anders (RD) 3.014 GAA, .910 SV%
  • Beck Warm (TC) 2.904 GAA, .915 SV%- If Warm starts tonight, this would be his fourth start in five days time.

Other games of note:

Everett Silvertips (40-14-1-2) @ Prince George Cougars (16-34-4-3)

  • Prince George still on that winning drought, have not had a win in 16 games coming into tonight.

Kelowna Rockets (24-28-4-1) @ Victoria Royals (29-24-1-2)

  • Kelowna leads the season series 5-2 coming into tonight. This is game two of a doubleheader as the Rockets ruled the Royals by a 5-2 score yesterday afternoon.