Rebels 4 Hitmen 3 (OT)
The Red Deer Rebels bounced back in a big way after a disappointing shutout loss this past Friday.
Red Deer came roaring back from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Calgary Hitmen 4-3 in overtime at the Peavey Mart Centrium Sunday afternoon.
“It was fun to be a part of that one,” Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk said after the victory.
“Our guys ramped it up and played hard. … They didn’t want to be denied and I’m definitely proud of our group.”
An early whistle cost the Rebels a goal about 14 minutes into the game. Dallon Melin fired a shot along the ice and the puck squeaked underneath Hitmen goaltender Ethan Buenaventura, stopping just short of the goal line. Rebels captain Jayden Grubbe tapped it in, but not before an official blew his whistle to stop play, thinking the netminder had the puck covered.
Hitmen forward Sean Tschigerl cashed in on a power play opportunity in the final minute of the first frame to open the scoring. Cael Zimmerman and Anton Yatsyshin then added two more for the Hitmen early in the second to put their team up three.
Rebels forward Jhett Larson finally got Red Deer on the board 8:53 into the middle frame, after sneaking behind the Hitmen defencemen and smacking a rebound past Buenaventura.
Red Deer’s Ben King was assessed a game misconduct penalty as both teams were gathering for a faceoff about half way through the second. Konowalchuk had no comment when asked about the game misconduct.
Arshdeep Bains scored on a breakaway 12:27 into the middle frame to make it a one-goal game. Jace Isley then tied things up at three for Red Deer 11:13 into the third.
In overtime, Connor Ungar made a big stop and the puck bounced to his right. Arshdeep Bains grabbed the loose puck and banked it off the boards to a streaking Kai Uchacz. The Rebels forward slipped a shot into the net to give his team the win.
“As soon as I saw (Bains) grab the puck I just tried to get up ice as quick as I could,” said Uchacz.
“I kind of got cut off … and just kind of threw it to the net. I thought I might have five hole open, so it snuck through.”
Ungar stopped 21 of 24 shots for the Rebels and Buenaventura stopped 29 of 33.
The three stars were: Bains (1), Tschigerl (2) and Larson (3).
Red Deer will visit Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes this Friday. The Rebels will then host the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Centrium Saturday – puck drop is at 7 p.m.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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