Rebels 4 Oil Kings 3
EDMONTON — The Red Deer Rebels took care of their own business Friday and clinched the Western Hockey League Central Division title and second place in the Eastern Conference, but their first-round playoff opponent has yet to be decided.
While the Rebels were posting a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings before 12,960 fans at Rexall Place, the Brandon Wheat Kings were falling 2-1 to the Moose Jaw Warriors in a shootout.
As a result, the Oil Kings remain two points behind the sixth-place Wheat Kings and can avoid an opening-round clash with the Rebels by defeating Red Deer tonight at the Centrium and hoping the Wheat Kings lose to the visiting Warriors. Of course, the Rebels can avoid Brandon and schedule a first-round playoff date with Edmonton by gaining a single point this evening.
The Oil Kings opened the scoring on a goal from Travis Ewanyk 6:20 into the contest, but the Rebels took command with the next four goals. Byron Froese potted a power-play marker at 8:57 of the first frame, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-1 after one period and Colin Archer sniped the only goal of the second stanza.
Froese scored his second of the evening and 43rd of the season at 2:14 of the final frame before T.J. Foster and Dylan Wruck closed the gap for the Oil Kings in the final 15 minutes.
“It was a real intense game right from the start,” said Rebels assistant coach Bryce Thoma. “We played pretty well in the first period, then let off the gas a bit in the second period and even more in the third. We decided to make it really interesting at the end, probably a bit more than it needed to be, for sure.
“But give Edmonton credit, they’re a good, skilled team and they play hard. They capitalized on their chances tonight.”
Thomas suggested that the Rebels can benefit from playing a meaningful game tonight. A win — or even a single point — would guarantee Red Deer of a first-round date the Oil Kings instead of the Wheat Kings.
“From a travel perspective, one team (Oil Kings) is closer than the other, but we look more at Saturday’s game as being our last regular-season game in front of our fans and our last tune-up before the playoffs start,” said Thoma. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, this last (regular-season) game is kind of a dress rehearsal for the following weekend when things really matter, when you’re playing for keeps.
“We want to finish the (regular) season on a good note so we can still have those good habits and play the same way a week from now that will allow us to hopefully have a long playoff run.”
Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots for the Rebels Friday, while Laurent Brossoit made 23 saves for the Oil Kings.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com