Skip to content

Rebels dominant in win over Hitmen

A week off did wonders for the Red Deer Rebels.
9033949_web1_171021-RDA-Rebels-hitmen-home
Red Deer Rebels forward Reese Johnson just misses on a breakaway attempt against Calgary Hitmen goalie Nick Schneider in WHL action on Friday at the Centrium. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)

A week off did wonders for the Red Deer Rebels.

They bounced back in a big way against the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night in WHL action.

After a sub-par performance in a 4-1 loss to the Saskatoon Blades last Saturday and a week of work, the Rebels looked like they had their game sorted out in the home victory over the Hitmen.

In their first of seven meetings this season it was Red Deer who pulled the first punch with the dominant 4-2 win over their Hwy 2 rival.

“Regardless of the score, I thought our effort and our compete level was certainly at a different level than it was last weekend and that’s what we wanted to see,” Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter said. “We played with some emotion and some intensity and our goalie was good, made saves when he had to. Our overall team game was much better.”

Lane Zablocki scored for just the second time this season 31 seconds into the game when he backhanded a puck off a faceoff and beat Hitmen netminder Nick Schneider along the ice. The Detroit Red Wings draft pick has six points in 10 games this season.

Brandon Hagel found Mason McCarty with a nice feed midway through the second and the veteran forward scored into a yawning cage to open up a 2-0 lead for Red Deer. McCarty now has nine goals in 10 games to lead the Rebels in scoring.

Forward Austin Pratt notched his third goal of the campaign just under two minutes into the final frame on a wraparound that snuck under Schneider’s pad.

Rebels captain Grayson Pawlenchuk extended his point streak to four games with a goal in the third.

“That was definitely a lot better game than our last one. We stuck to our systems a lot better and played a 60-minute game we were definitely better in those areas,” said Pawlenchuk.

“We used our speed. In the offensive zone we worked on our cycles and I think we used that to our advantage and got some good cycles going and we got chances off that.”

Tristen Nielsen scored the first Hitmen goal and his only one of the season midway through the final frame. With 38 seconds left in the game, Drea Esposito added another Calgary goal.

Rebels rookie goaltender Ethan Anders solid in the first and finished the night with 24 saves for his second WHL win.

“He stood on his head there, made a couple big saves for us so it’s definitely nice to have,” Pawlenchuk said.

The Rebels will be right back at it Saturday night when they welcome the Prince George Cougars to town. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Centrium.



Email sports tips to Byron Hackett

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter



Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
Read more