Thunderbirds 4 Rebels 1
KENT, Wash. — The Red Deer Rebels already knew Calvin Pickard was a premier puck-stopper.
On Tuesday, before 2,725 fans at the ShoWare Centre, Pickard reminded the Rebels of exactly how good he can be, turning aside 46 shots in a Seattle Thunderbirds’ 4-1 Western Hockey League win.
“It’s a little tough to talk to the players after a game like this when you’re always telling them that if you outplay the other team the result will take care of itself,” said Rebels assistant coach Chris Neiszner. “That certainly didn’t happen tonight. We ran into a very hot goaltender.”
The Rebels pelted Pickard with 47 shots, but got just a single goal when rookie defenceman Matt Dumba connected in the third period with the visitors already down 3-0.
After trailing 18-4 in shots through a scoreless first period, the T-Birds were outshot 15-6 in the second frame, yet got goals from Burke Gallimore and Colin Jacobs for a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Gallimore upped the count to 3-0 midway through the final frame before Dumba connected for the Rebels on a power play and Charles Wells notched an empty-netter for the hosts.
“There are times when you think that maybe you could have done a better job of getting to those dirty (scoring) areas,” said Neiszner, in trying to analyze a loss that clearly should have been a win. “But sometimes games just go like that. We knew we were playing against a real good goaltender and he showed us that.
“We didn’t score enough and yet we played real well. It’s tough when you play that well but come out on the short end.”
Rebels 16-year-old rookie netminder Bolton Pouliot made 13 saves in his third start of the season.
The Rebels continue their six-game trip versus the Winterhawks Friday at Portland.
From there, Red Deer will play at Tri-City, Everett, Vancouver and Chilliwack.
l One day after being honoured as the WHL player of the week, Rebels forward Andrej Kudrna was named the Canadian Hockey League player of the week Tuesday.
Kudrna was feted after scoring four goals and adding three assists in a pair of Red Deer wins.
l Former Rebels Brad Haber and Steve Oursov are now with the Langley Chiefs of the junior A BCHL.
Haber, a 20-year-old defenceman who was released by the Rebels last month, was waived through the WHL and joined the Chiefs two weeks later.
Oursov, released by Red Deer in September, rejoined the Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCHL after clearing WHL waivers. But the 19-year-old winger left the team for personal reasons and was dealt to Langley Tuesday.