Rebels 5 Cougars 1
All too often in the Western Hockey League, it’s not how you start but how you finish.
The Red Deer Rebels were a little slow out of the gate Saturday at the Centrium, but gained momentum as the evening progressed and posted a convincing 5-1 win over the Prince George Cougars before a recorded gathering of 5,729.
“We got better as the game went on,” said Rebels GM/head coach Jesse Wallin, whose club snapped a two-game losing streak.
“We had a bit of a hesitant start. I thought we played a bit uptight and were forcing things a bit and weren’t moving our feet.”
The Rebels were outplayed through much of the opening period, but struck first when Mathew Dumba converted Turner Elson’s give-and-go feed at 18:24 on a rare two-on-zero short-handed breakaway.
“You don’t see that too often,” said Elson, who had a four-point night with two goals and two helpers.
“I was always going to give it back (to Dumba). There was no way I was taking the shot and missing.”
The Rebels controlled the game the rest of the way. Elson upped the count to 2-0 on a late second-period power play — converting a feed from Dumba — and notched his second of the evening and 16th of the season in the final frame, to go along with markers from captain Adam Kambeitz (power play) and Chad Robinson.
The visitors got their lone goal from defenceman Cody Carlson early in the third period when his shot from the point deflected off a Red Deer stick and soared over the head of Rebels goaltender Deven Dubyk and into the net.
The victory pulled Red Deer to within four points of the eighth-place Brandon Wheat Kings in the Eastern Conference.
The Wheat Kings, who have played three more games than the Rebels, fell 7-3 at home to the Kootenay Ice.
“That was a huge two points for us,” said Elson.
“We found the back of the net for a change tonight and we were able to make plays.”
On a personal level . . .
“I felt good. We had a good, hard week of practice and pulled together as a team,” said Elson.
“I felt like I had my legs under me the whole game. I was able to bear down on my opportunities and overall it was a good night.”
Wallin pointed to the Rebels’ third goal — scored by Kambeitz just 31 seconds into the third period — as the virtual clincher.
“Through the rest of the period we really got moving and playing like we can,” he said.
“We were moving the puck and had some real fluidity in our game. It was something to build off of, for sure.’
As for Elson’s big night . . .
“We need him to be a good player for us,” said Wallin.
“He’s capable of that. He’s a hard-working guy and he had that jump in his step tonight and was rewarded for it.”
Dubyk made 32 saves to post his eighth win of the season. Cougars netminder Devon Fordyce blocked 30 shots.
The Rebels are in Calgary today to take on the Hitmen at 4 p.m. at the Saddledome.
Red Deer’s next home game is Wednesday versus the Vancouver Giants.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com