Rebels 3
Oil Kings 7
It was an ugly game for the Red Deer Rebels.
After three goals that were redirected off skates in front of the net gave the Oil Kings a 3-0 lead it only got worse for the Rebels who fell 7-3 on Saturday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
Head coach Dave Struch said it was not only a tough loss but a disappointing effort.
“After three weeks all of the work that they’ve put in and the commitment they’ve had towards each other for each other to get better, we’ve only seen one bad period in Lethbridge last week,” he said.
“I’m really disappointed to see the effort they put forth tonight.”
The Oil Kings found the back of the net midway through the first period. Edmonton’s Gracyn Sawchyn made a push toward the net and after he was knocked down it redirected off his skate and into the net.
Less than a minute into the second period, the Oil Kings extended their lead when Marshall Finnie fired in his 20th of the year that redirected off a skate in front.
Seven minutes later, the Rebels got into penalty trouble. With two guys in the penalty box, the Oil Kings took a 3-0 lead on the 5-on-3 powerplay scored by Adam Jecho.
“Three goals off skates but that’s still not an excuse,” Struch added. “We were energy takers tonight and we needed energy givers. We didn’t have enough of it.”
Red Deer broke the shutout midway through the frame when rookie forward Jeramiah Roberts buried an opportunity on the offensive rush off the pass from Quentin Bourne.
Four minutes later, Gavin Hodnett put the Oil Kings up by three once again and they didn’t stop there. With less than two minutes to go, Oil Kings Skyler Bruce scored their fifth of the game on the offensive rush after he was left alone in front of the net.
In the third period, Roberts scored his second of the game to cut into Edmonton’s lead just minutes into the final frame.
However, that was as close as Red Deer would get. Shortly after, Edmonton scored two goals within a minute of each other from Jecho and Smyth Rebman to lead 7-2.
As a result, the Rebels made a goaltending change taking out Chase Wutzke after he let in seven goals on 26 shots. Netminder Rhett Stoesser stepped in and made 10 saves in the third period.
Red Deer scored one more before the end of the period off the stick of defenceman Mats Lindgren.
The Rebels will now wrap up the regular season in Edmonton on Sunday at 4 p.m. before kicking off their first-round playoff series against the Medicine Hat Tigers next week.
All week Struch has preached playing the right way heading into the playoffs. He hopes to see more of that on Sunday.
“We saw a little bit of it in the first period. We were getting pucks in the right way even though those three goals off of skates went in we were doing things the right way,” he said.
“They didn’t find it in their game to continue that and continue the effort.”