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Red Deer Rebels top Tigers, fall to Hurricanes

Red Deer hosts Lethbridge on Saturday, Nov. 2
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Red Deer Rebels forward Jeramiah Roberts (7) recorded an assist in a 4-2 victory against the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Photo by Taylor Lachance/Red Deer Rebels)

A tough final five minutes for the Red Deer Rebels resulted in a loss on the road against the Lethbridge Hurricanes this past weekend.

The Rebels were bested 5-3 by the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Saturday, Oct. 26. The Rebels now hold a 7-5-1 record, which puts the team at fifth in the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference.

Red Deer got off to a good start, with captain Ollie Josephson scoring a power play goal just 1:24 into the first period. Josephson now has four goals on the season.

About five minutes after Hurricanes forward Brayden Edwards tied things up 4:43 into the first period, Rebels defenceman Hunter Mayo scored his seventh of the season to put Red Deer back on top. Mayo has more goals than any other defenceman in the WHL so far in the 2024-25 season.

The Hurricanes evened things up again 5:50 into the second period, when Leo Braillard beat Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke, who stopped 25 of the 29 shots he faced. Jhett Larson scored in his second-straight game to put Red Deer back on top with about five minutes remaining in the middle frame — he now has four on the season.

With just over five minutes remaining in the game, Hurricanes forward Miguel Marques tied the game at three. Then Kash Andresen put Lethbirdge up by one with less than three minutes on the clock. Marques added an empty-net goal with just over a minute left in the game to lift his team to a 5-3 victory.

"We let one get away," Rebels head coach David Struch said in a post-game interview on the Rebels' social media.

"I'm not too worried about the third goal (Lethbridge scored). They pushed hard. After that we started to defend instead of checking the right way. We made a big mistake on the fourth goal. ... It was a great game up until that point. Obviously it's something we can learn from and get ready for next weekend."

The night prior, on Friday, Oct. 25, Wutzke stopped 40 of 42 shots to lead his team to a 4-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer.

Larson got Red Deer on the board early, rifling the puck past Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin just 57 seconds into the first period. Samuel Drancak picked up the lone assist on the goal.

Andrew Basha and Oasiz Wiesblatt scored put Medicine Hat up 2-1 before the end of the opening frame. Highly-touted prospect Gavin McKenna grabbed the primary assist on both tallies.

Half way through the second period, Rebels forward Carson Birnie slid the puck to Jaxon Fuder, who tapped the puck into the Medicine Hat net. The power play tally was Fuder's second goal of the season.

Birnie scored one of his own at 14:55 of the second period, tipping a centring pass from Jeramiah Roberts past Meneghin, who stopped 29 of Red Deer's 32 shots in the game. Josephson added an empty-net goal, as the Rebels went on to win 4-2.

The Rebels next play on Saturday, Nov. 2, when the Hurricanes come to the Peavey Mart Centrium. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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