Rebels 5
Hitmen 2
The Red Deer Rebels had a slow start but a strong finish propelled them to their fourth straight win on Saturday night.
Red Deer is now tied with the Brandon Wheat Kings for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Captain Ollie Josephson led the way offensively with a goal and two assists. Meanwhile, Matteo Fabrizi, Steven Steranka, and Talon Brigley all contributed two points each. Carson Birnie and Cohen Poulin also each added a goal.
"It was a really slow start," said head coach Dave Struch.
"It could have been a bit of an emotional letdown from last night but really we left it to the players between periods. Leadership took over, they stayed calm, and in the second period, we were better.
"In the third, I thought it was really good. We got a chance to use all of our lines. Everybody played well. Smith, Steranka, and Poulin were fantastic for us tonight... It was a good win."
Josephson, who was named the game's first star, said it wasn't the start they'd hoped for but got back on track later in the game.
"I think we were playing a bit soft and slow but in the second and third I thought we took over with our hard plays. We were hard on pucks and we were moving our feet so it was a good way to finish the game," Josephson said.
Rebels rookie Steven Steranka got the Rebels on the board 2:30 into the game. The 17-year-old forward scored his first WHL goal when he stole the puck from a Hitmen defender behind the net and tucked it on a wrap-around.
"Really, we are [happy for him]," Struch added. "He's worked hard in practice and he earned an opportunity here tonight to get some more ice time and it's paid off for him."
The Hitmen found the equalizer at the halfway point of the opening period scored by Reese Hamilton who tipped in a point shot past Rebels goaltender Rhett Stoesser.
Red Deer added one more three minutes into the second period when defenceman Matteo Fabrizi, who was skating down the left side in the offensive zone, fed a streaking Cohen Poulin in front of the net.
Josephson added the insurance goal midway through the middle frame scoring on a perfectly placed short-side shot in the top right corner.
In the third period, Fabrizi scored his second goal of the season off a laser shot from the left circle that went over the head of Hitmen netminder Eric Tu.
The Hitmen added one more late in the off a tip front of the net by Hunter Aura but Rebels Carson Birnie added the empty netter just over a minute later.
Stoesser finished the game with 31 saves on 33 shots and Tu, who made his first WHL start, made 16 saves on 20 shots for Calgary.
"We're very fortunate with both of our goaltenders. We've talked about not having the puck as much. They had a lot of shots but a lot of them were from the outside. He made the saves when we needed it. We can't thank him enough for that," Struch said.
