Rebels 3 Hitmen 2 (OT)
Over the past five games, regulation time simply hasn’t been enough for the Red Deer Rebels to come away with two points.
Heading into Sunday, the third game in three nights for the Rebels, two of their past four contests had ended in shootout losses.
In Calgary at the Saddledome, Red Deer finally shook that trend, finishing the game off 3:51 into overtime, as Hunter Mayo cashed in his 10th goal of the year. Mayo’s second of the night came just under 30 seconds into a power play, when he sniped bar down to help the Rebels earn the 3-2 victory.
Mayo’s first of the night even the score at 1-1 6:26 into the second period, on a point shot that eluded Hitmen goalie Brayden Peters.
Lind pushed the Rebels ahead with just under two minutes to play in the middle frame. Grubbe swept the puck down low to line at the side of the Hitmen net and he slipped a low shot past Peters. Lind also had a pair of assists on the night and was named first star.
Calgary found the equalizer 7:24 into the third, when Jacob Wright buried a rebound off the rush past Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey.
Kelsey was brilliant on the evening, with 37 saves on 39 shots to earn the victory. Peters stopped 31 of 34 shots for the Hitmen in the loss.
Red Deer picked up five of a possible six points on the weekend, bouncing back from a stretch of six losses in seven games.
The Rebels will host the Saskatoon Blades Friday night, with the Moose Jaw Warriors visiting the Centrium the following night.