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Red Deer Rebels

Rebels Limp Home After Lopsided Game 2 Defeat

March 25, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


LETHBRIDGE - A great start quickly turned into a bad stretch for the Red Deer Rebels Saturday night.

Brandon Hagel's power-play bullet from 40 feet out beat Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Logan Flodell high to the glove side just 59 seconds into Game 2 of an Eastern Conference quarter-final at the Enmax Centre.

Then, with Tate Olson serving the 'Canes' third penalty inside the first seven minutes, the Rebels applied major pressure without finding the back of the net.

The turning point arrived seconds after, as Lethbridge forward Dylan Cozens scored on a short-handed, two-on-one break with Brad Morrison.

The 'Canes went on to garner an additional three goals in the next 10 minutes and led 4-2 after 20 minutes en route to an 8-3 victory witnessed by 3,403 fans.

"We had a good start to the game again," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter, whose club dominated the opening frame of Friday's 6-0 Game 1 setback. "And then the short-handed goal gave them some momentum."

Cozens added his second of three goals on the evening to give the home side a lead they wouldn't relinquish, cashing a rebound after Rebels stopper Ethan Anders had made two saves on the same play.

Zach Cox made it 3-1 in short order, beating Anders from the left circle. Red Deer defender Hunter Donohoe turned the puck over when he was tripped along the boards.

Anders was replaced by Riley Lamb at that point, but Brad Morrison connected at 17:41 and the eventual rout was underway.

Josh Tarzwell replied for the Rebels before the period ended, connecting with a backhand from his knees, and when the visitors were presented with a lengthy two-man advantage as the period concluded, it represented a glorious chance to pull within a single goal.

Instead . . .

"We got one back, then had the five-on-three early in the second and we didn't get any momentum out of that," said Sutter. "They go down and get three goals in three minutes."

Two minutes and 16 seconds, actually.

Taylor Ross upped the count to 5-2 with a short-side shot from the right circle, Cozens cashed his own rebound on a power play to complete his hat trick, and Bellerive added another man-advantage marker before the midway point of the frame.

"Just those lapses . . . it's been a real wake-up call for some of our guys," said Sutter.

Morrison potted his second of the game - he added four assists for a six-point night - 4:43 into the third, converting a centering pass from Igor Merezhko, and Hagel closed out the scoring with a power-play goal at 10:55.

The Red Deer veteran skated into the low slot and found the top of the net behind Reece Klassen, who had replaced Flodell just seconds before.

Flodell was relieved after stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced, including at least a half dozen that were labelled. Klassen turned aside four of the five shots he saw.

"Their goalie has played really well," said Sutter. "We're not getting enough second and third shots on him, though, and the ones that we do get we're not bearing down on them."

At the other end, Anders was beaten on three of the nine shots he looked at and Lamb stopped 24 of 29.

One night after going a perfect three-for-three on the power play, the 'Canes were three-for-five in Game 2. Red Deer was two-for-eight with a man advantage.

"The reason why we've struggled on our penalty kill is because we've been soft on it," said Sutter. "And your best penalty killer has to be your goalie.

"I think we've seen what our goaltending has been like in this series. They've really struggled."

Games 3 and 4 will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at the Centrium.

"We have to regroup," said Sutter. "We haven't been mentally strong at all. It's been a lot of things . . . our specialty teams haven't been good and obviously we need some saves.

"Our five-on-five play hasn't been that bad, really. It just seems like every chance they (Hurricanes) get, they score."

Notable: The Rebels were down to five defencemen midway through the game when Carson Sass suffered an injury and didn't return. His status for Game 3 won't be known until Monday.

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