Rebels 6 Oil Kings 2
LEDUC — Nathan Green is quickly finding a comfort zone on the Red Deer Rebels’ top line.
On Saturday night he scored two goals while assisting on two others in helping the Rebels beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-2 on Saturday night.
Green, picked up from the Brandon Wheat Kings in a trade during the CHL import draft, opened the scoring 3:25 into the first period on an unassisted effort. He then assisted, along with rookie phenom Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, on a Cody Esposito goal three minutes later. Green then put the Rebels up 3-0 with a power-play marker, with Nugent-Hopkins and Matthew Dumba picking up helpers.
T.J. Foster got the Oil Kings on the board at 15:21 of the first with ex-Red Deer Midget AAA Optimist Rebel Cam Maclise getting the assist.
Foster made it 3-2 on an Oil Kings power play at 7:23 of the second stanza, with Maclise again picking up a helper along with Michael St. Croix.
Nugent-Hopkins fired home his third goal in two games for Red Deer four minutes later, with Green getting his fourth point, and the Rebels never looked back. Nugent-Hopkins now has five points after missing the first two pre-season games to illness.
The Rebels added a goal from Turner Elson, assisted by Brett Miller, and a power-play tally by John Persson, from Alex Petrovic and Colten Mayor.
Kraymer Barstable made 23 saves on 25 shots for the win, while Laurent Brossoit stopped just 33 of 39 shots in the Edmonton net.
The Rebels finish out their pre-season next weekend by hosting Kootenay on Friday and Calgary on Saturday, with both games at 7:30 p.m.