The Red Deer Rebels hit the win column for the first time this season Friday.
In the first of eight meetings in the 2018-19 WHL season, Red Deer got the best of the Calgary Hitmen and picked up a 4-3 victory at the Centrium.
With the Rebels up a goal in the final 10 minutes, Calgary had plenty of pressure but the Red Deer defence stood strong. The Rebels penalty kill also had two big kills during the final stretch to preserve the victory.
“We certainly made it interesting. They made a push in the third especially in the last 10 minutes after they got that third goal. But I liked a lot of things we did,” said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.
“I thought after the first, some of our younger guys got playing better. In the first period were trying to do too much and play a skill-type game. Stuff they can get away with at lower levels that they can’t get away with here. I thought that group helped us in the second and third. At the end of the day you can’t play five or six forwards.”
Red Deer managed to kill all four penalties in the game and also added a goal on the power play to win the special teams battle.
”Down the stretch, those two penalty kills were huge for us,” Sutter said.
“One call was questionable and the other was 200-feet from our net that we can’t take. We did a good job killing it off and we scored a power-play goal. Our specialty teams were good tonight.”
Ethan Anders was solid for the Rebels in the victory with 30 saves. He stopped 17 of 18 shots in the third to help close the game out.
Zach Huber opened the scoring for the Hitmen less than four minutes into the first, on just their second shot of the game.
Defenceman Jacob Herauf scored his first of the season 2:19 later for Red Deer to tie the game at one. It was the first of the season for the Sherwood Park native and his third career WHL goal.
Alex Alexeyev, fresh off signing an NHL Entry level deal with the Washington Capitals, notched his third goal of the season on the power play in the second.
Brandon Hagel fired a nifty pass through the crease and Alexeyev found the mark. Oleg Zaytsev also picked up his first career WHL assist on the goal.
A weak shot from the half wall by Layne Toder beat Anders with 96 seconds left in the second period. Just 27 seconds later, Red Deer product Jeff de Wit scored his first goal of the season for the Rebels.
The 20-year-old winger took a shot from the top of the circle that eluded Hitmen netminder Carl Stankowski. Originally drafted by the Rebels in the first round of the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft, it was his first goal in Red Deer since he scored against the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL playoffs on April 26, 2016.
Zaytsev also assisted on that goal and recorded his first WHL multi-point game.
Early in the third, Hagel wired home his first of the season with a laser of a wrist shot past Stankowski to push the Rebels ahead 4-2.
The Hitmen climbed back into the game at 13:11 of the third. Hunter Campbell fired a pass in front that appeared to find the stick of Red Deer product Tye Carriere, but the puck actually hit Rebels’ defenceman Dawson Barteaux and trickled in.
Hagel, with a goal and two assists, was first star on the night. He said while their start was a bit slow, he liked the performance Friday.
“I thought it was good. Maybe our start was a little bit slow. We had a few guys going but the second period came around and I thought everyone was going and that’s what we needed,” Hagel said.
Saturday night the Rebels welcome the defending WHL champion Swift Current Broncos with puck drop set for 7 p.m. at the Centrium.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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