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Red Deer Rebels

Rebels' Stymied by 'Canes Netminder, Ineffective Special Teams

March 24, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


LETHBRIDGE - Talk about a fatal combination.

Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Logan Flodell was a wall and the Red Deer Rebels' special teams were a mess.

The visiting Rebels, consequently, were on the short end of a 6-0 count in Friday's opening game of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference quarter-final witnessed by 3,204 patrons at the Enmax Centre.

Following a scoreless first period, the 'Canes struck for a pair of second-period goals - despite being outshot 23-17 through 40 minutes - and then poured it on with four unanswered markers in the third.

Along the way, Flodell stopped all 30 shots he faced and his teammates were a sparkling three-for-three on the power play. Riley Lamb made 20 saves for Red Deer, zero-for-seven with a man advantage.

"Their goalie made some saves, our special teams weren't very good and our five-on-five play in the last two periods wasn't very good," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.

The Rebels were all over their hosts in the opening frame, holding a 10-5 advantage in shots - 8-1 through the first 10 minutes - but failing to solve Flodell. The overage stopper was rock-solid and made a dazzling glove stab on Kristian Reichel to keep the game scoreless.

"We didn't bear down and capitalize on our chances and then we got off our game and started taking some bad penalties," said Sutter. "Our best players weren't our best players in the last two periods tonight."

Taylor Ross notched the only goal the 'Canes needed with a power play tally at 3:01 of the middle period, tipping home a shot from Jordy Bellerive.

Defenceman Tate Olson made it 2-0 just over five minutes later when he skated into the low slot and, from a scramble, knocked a bouncing puck past Lamb.

Sutter tried out different line combinations in the second half of the contest but nothing worked, although Reichel appeared to have a sure goal late in the second period but was absolutely robbed by Flodell.

"I was just trying to get something going. I wasn't happy with our second period and I was trying to change some things up," said Sutter. "We didn't get any momentum at all in the third and they just kept coming at us.

"We never had any pushback."

Brad Morrison converted a nifty feed from Jake Elmer at 6:50 of the final period to effectively put the game away, but the 'Canes weren't finished.

With Red Deer short a man, Bellerive, from the left circle, one-timed a cross-ice pass from Morrison into the far corner of the net at 10:08. Logan Barlage added another power-play goal at 15:18 and Elmer closed out the scoring when he deposited a rebound 94 seconds later.

The Rebels' penalty kill resembled the static, not-so-special team that was on display through the first half of the season, and their power play struggled big time.

"The power play was a reflection of our top players," said Sutter. "They had chances but didn't capitalize in the first period and then after that they started playing one-on-one hockey."

Game 2 is set for Saturday at the Enmax Centre. The third and fourth games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at the Centrium.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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