It’s been four years since the Red Deer Rebels crossed the border into the United States.
And central Alberta’s team made the most of it Saturday night with a nail-biting 1-0 win over the Spokane Chiefs that was decided in the shootout.
After Kai Uchacz and Berkly Catton both missed in round one of the shootout, forward Ben King fired it past goaltender Dawson Cowan to put the Rebels up.
All Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey had to do was stop Cade Hayes to take home the victory and the rookie came up big for Red Deer to secure the win.
Kelsey, who finished with 26 saves on Saturday, now has two shutouts in his first season in the Western Hockey League. His first came against the Lethbridge Hurricanes back in October.
On the other end of the ice, Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan stood on his head and made a mind-blowing 45 saves in the loss.
A quick turnaround for a matinee in Everett against the Silvertips paused the early momentum of the American swing.
Red Deer fell behind 8:08 into the contest, but bounced back to tie the game on Frantisek Formanek’s ninth tally of the year.
Just 39 seconds into the second on the power play, Ben King buried his 10th of the campaign, fifth since returning from injury on Jan. 20.
The Rebels stumbled from there, allowing three unanswered goals on the way to the 4-2 loss.
King was ejected from the game at 4:55 of the third period when he received a boarding major and a game misconduct.
Rhett Stoesser made 33 saves in the loss for the Rebels, while Tyler Palmer turned aside 22 shots for Everett. Stoesser was third star for his efforts, while Palmer earned second star honours. Austin Roest, who scored his 28th goal of the year on the power play in the third, which was also the game-winning goal, was first star.
Everett outshot the Rebels 37-24. Red Deer was 1/2 on the power play, while the Silvertips also converted just once on four opportunities.
Red Deer will continue its U.S. road swing Tuesday when they battle the Portland Winterhawks, with puck drop set for 8 p.m.