The beauty of the Western Hockey League playoffs is on any given night the game can be flipped upside down in a matter of seconds.
And on Saturday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals between the Red Deer Rebels and the Calgary Hitmen, the hometown Rebels lost a heartbreaker 2-1 in overtime.
Red Deer took the lead midway through the third period when defenceman Christoffer Sedoff entered the offensive zone with a full head of speed and ripped a wrist shot in the top corner.
However, with 1:37 left in the game, the Hitmen tied it.
With Calgary’s goaltender pulled a shot by the Hitmen trickled through the pads of Rebels’ Kyle Kelsey and sat in the crease before forward Sean Tschigerl knocked in the puck.
In the first overtime, the Hitmen ended it after David Adaszynski crashed the net to fire the puck into the back of the net.
Head coach Steve Konowalchuk said Saturday night’s game was typical for this time of year.
“You’d like to win them all but you’re not going to win them all so we’ll get back at it,” he said.
“That’s typical playoff hockey you battle until the end and could we have come away with a win? Sure, they played hard too. It’s going to be a good series so we’ve got to turn a page and move on.”
Once the Hitmen scored the Rebels challenged the play for potential offside but after the officials took a look at it the challenge was upheld.
The Rebels will now head to Calgary for Games 3 and 4 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday and Wednesday. The Rebels have been good on the road this season and the last time these two teams met in the dome, the Rebels dominated in a 9-0 win in the regular season.
“I think the more you play teams and the more you go into buildings the home ice kind of loses its advantage in playoff time,” Konowalchuk said.
“We’ve just got to go in there play our game and we’ve got to keep our heads up.”
In the second period, the Rebels nearly had a goal when Frantisek Formanek passed it over to Kai Uchacz on the right side of the net who fired in a backhand over the pads of Hitmen goalie Brayden Peters.
However, after a review by the officiating crew, the goal was waived off because the Rebels were found to be offside prior to the goal.
Rebels captain Jayden Grubbe said postgame that once the game reaches overtime the game can go either way.
“It’s always tight,” Grubbe said.
“[The loss] it’s nothing to worry about you know it’s a series… They’re a good team we’re not expecting to go through the whole series with no adversity… We played well but there’s a couple of things we can tighten up.”
The Rebels were still without forward Ben King who remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and forward Craig Armstrong who was suspended two games for a slew foot against the Hitmen in Game 1. He’ll be eligible to return in Game 4.
Rebels forward Kalan Lind left the game in overtime after blocking a shot but did return after heading to the locker room for a few minutes.
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The Red Deer Rebels attempt to get traffic in front of Calgary Hitmen goaltender Brayden Peters in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in the WHL playoffs on Saturday at the Peavey Mart Centrium. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate staff)
