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Red Deer Rebels

Hagel, Anders Lights out as Rebels Post Road Win over Oil Kings

October 20, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


EDMONTON - Brandon Hagel had a sniper's touch and Ethan Anders was a wall between the pipes.

Together, they led the Red Deer Rebels to a 5-2 Western Hockey League win over the Edmonton Oil Kings Friday at Rogers Place.

Hagel fired four goals - giving him eight on the season - and Anders turned aside 41 shots as the duo earned first- and second-star game honours.

"Hages and Anders were both outstanding," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter, who despite the fact his charges led 2-0 just 68 seconds into the contest, wasn't pleased with the team's first-period showing.

"The last two periods we were good. The first period wasn't a good period for us," he said.

After Alex Morozoff buried a rebound of an Ethan Sakowich shot 29 seconds after the opening faceoff and Hagel followed with a highlight-reel goal at 1:08, the Rebels played a good portion of the period in their own end.

"We gave up 20 shots and 12 quality scoring chances. Andy played extremely well for us," said Sutter. "I thought we just got soft on pucks, we weren't finishing checks. We stood around a lot and chased a lot of the first period."

Hagel's first goal was a thing of beauty, as the overage winger slipped the puck through the skates of Oil Kings defenceman Conner McDonald at the Edmonton blueline, went in alone and tucked a backhand between the pads of netminder Boston Bilous.

Jake Neighbours replied for the hosts with a power-play marker at the 7:37 mark, cashing his own rebound and reducing the Rebels' lead to 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Hagel potted his second of the evening early in the middle frame when he cut hard to the net and chipped the puck over a fallen Bilous, but Trey Fix-Wolansky answered for the Oil Kings six minutes later with a power-play wrist shot from just inside the blueline with heavy traffic blocking Anders' view.

Hagel scored an insurance marker a mere 49 seconds later after splitting the Oil Kings' defence.

"We got going again in the second period and played much better," said Sutter. "And in the third we were really good."

Defensively, the Rebels were visibly sharper in the final frame, giving up just 11 shots. The visitors, meanwhile, managed just four shots of their own but got a fourth goal from Hagel, who one-timed a centering pass from Oleg Zaytsev into the back of the net.

The victory was a measure of revenge for the Rebels, who dropped the first two games of the season to the Oil Kings.

"It's always nice to win, but there's a certain way we have to play with our identity and we can't lose that," said Sutter. "if we do that we have things happen to us like they did in the first period. Then we get it back and we're solid."

Notable: The Rebels return to the confines of the Centrium for the first time in two weeks Saturday when they host the Kootenay Ice . . . Sakowich enjoyed a multiple-point game for the Rebels with a pair of assists Friday . . . Anders improved his goals-against average to 3.11 and his save percentage to .920 with his standout performance. Among his better saves were a great glove stab on Scott Atkinson and a sliding pad stop on Vladimir Alistrov.

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