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Rebels down Thunderbirds to win another on the road

Red Deer 6 Seattle 3SEATTLE, Wash. — The Red Deer Rebels final extended Western Hockey League road trip of the season is going just as they hoped.The Rebels won for the second time in three days during their three-game trip out west with a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds before 3,017 fans Friday.

Red Deer 6 Seattle 3

SEATTLE, Wash. — The Red Deer Rebels final extended Western Hockey League road trip of the season is going just as they hoped.

The Rebels won for the second time in three days during their three-game trip out west with a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds before 3,017 fans Friday.

The Rebels, who beat the Prince George Cougars 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday, finish their trip against the Blazers in Kamloops tonight.

Goaltender Patrick Bartosak and forward Rhyse Dieno played a major role in the Rebels victory. Bartosak continues to show why he’s one of the premier goaltenders in the league as he finished with 47 saves. Dieno has been a great addition to the roster and scored three times to hit the 20-goal plateau for the season.

Dieno started things for the Rebels, connecting at 3:56 of the first period with Matt Dumba making it 2-0 at 7:50 with his 12th of the season.

The one thing the Rebels didn’t do well was kill penalties and the Seattle power play got them back even.

Riley Sheen narrowed the gap to 2-1 after the first period as he beat Bartosak at 10:38. Roberts Lipsbergs collected his 20th goal of the season at 3:44 of the second period.

However, the Rebels power play connected for the only time in five tries when Tyson Ness beat Brandon Glover at 9:47. Dieno got what proved to be the winning goal at 19:32.

Despite being outshot 35-30 after 40 minutes the Rebels took a 4-2 lead into the final frame and Brooks Maxwell gave them some breathing room with his sixth goal of the season at 1:44. Andrew Johnson gave the Thunderbirds a chance for a comeback when he connected, once again on the power play, at 12:51.

However, Dieno put the final nail in the coffin with an empty net marker at 19:25.

The Rebels finished with 39 shots on Glover.

They also maintained their one point lead on the Saskatoon Blades for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. However, the Blades, who beat Swift Current 4-1, have two games in hand on the Rebels.

The Rebels moved five points up on the sixth-place Lethbridge Hurricanes, who lost 2-1 in Prince Albert. The Rebels have three games in hand on Lethbridge.

Swift Current and Medicine Hat, who beat Moose Jaw 4-1, are nine points behind Red Deer.

l Dumba was named the first star and Bartosak second.