WHL Red Deer Rebels

King Scores a Late Beauty to Push Rebels Past Wheat Kings

Published on January 30, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


The Red Deer Rebels and Brandon Wheat Kings went end-to-end all evening Wednesday at the Centrium in a WHL game that was decided by a downright spectacular goal by Ben King with two minutes remaining.

The Rebels forward accepted a feed by Arshdeep Bains at the Brandon blueline, put a great move on the visitors' last man back and from in close beat netminder Jiri Patera to the top corner.

"Bainsy had a good touchback and I realized there was a forward there, so I thought I'd try something and it worked out. It was huge," said King, whose 10th of the season gave Red Deer a 5-4 win before 3,434 fans.

"I thought it was a back and forth game and we played well for most of it. A few downs and they capitalized but in the end we got the W and that's all that matters."

The Rebels grabbed a 4-3 lead at 11:36 of the final frame when Bains twirled to get away from a Brandon defender behind the net and passed out front to defenceman Christoffer Sedoff, who beat Patera to the glove side.

But Cole Reinhardt pulled the Wheat Kings even with a power play marker on a screened shot at 17:26, setting the stage for King's winner 33 seconds later.

A timeout called by Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter early in the third period was a crucial turning point in the contest. The Rebels had just surrendered a goal to Luka Burzan - on a rising rocket from the left circle - and were turning the puck over with authority when Sutter called the team to the bench.

"It was good hockey game in a lot of ways," said the Rebels boss. "We got in some penalty trouble in the second but got back and played pretty well near the end of the period, and then our first four and a half minutes of the third weren't good.

"We took a timeout and settled down and played and played the right way the rest of the game. I thought we played a really, really good last 15 minutes of the third."

Sutter's message to his crew during the stoppage was straight to the point.

"Look at that first four minutes, they had one two-on-oh breakaway, two two-on-ones and one three-on-two. I think you know what I was telling them," he said.

"That's now how we play, just get back to our structure and the way we have to play. Get back to forechecking and getting pucks in their zone and let us work there and be smarter with the turnovers."

Chris Douglas worked into the right circle and ripped a shot to the far side of the net to give Red Deer a lead 7:12 into the contest.

Brandon responded with a fluke goal - on the power play - just past the midway point of the first when a shot glanced off as many as three players, including Ridly Greig who was credited with the tally.

Dallon Melin buried a splendid pass from Jace Isley late in the opening frame to restore the Rebels' lead and Bains connected on a lovely short-handed give-and-go with King 5:17 into the second to make it a 3-1 game.

"Obviously we've been together now for awhile and we're staring to get chemistry," King said of Bains, selected as the game's first star. "He's so skilled and easy to play wth. Give him the puck and he'll bury or give it back. We're starting to click and that's really important for us."

Added Sutter: "He made some really nice plays. He's a smart player. We need Bainsy to be good for us, he's one of our top six forwards and we need our top players to play like top players."

Ben McCartney moved across the crease and beat Rebels netminder wide to pull the Wheat Kings to within one at 14:29 of the middle period, and Burzan tied it early in the third.

But the Rebels came through when it counted and posted their 16th win of the season following a pair of 5-2 losses to Calgary on the weekend.

"I think we just competed and played our game," said King. "We have to be a hard working, get in the trenches team and on the weekend we kind of lacked that, but tonight we were doing that full throttle and it worked out for us."

Greig, who added two assists - as did Bains - to go with his goal, was named second star and Sedoff, with a goal and assist, was picked as third star.

"I thought Sak (Ethan Sakowich) and Seds had a great game," said Sutter of the Rebels' top defensive pairing. "And Andy (Anders) played really well too."

Anders was indeed sharp while turning aside 32 shots. He made a big-time stop on Reinhardt on a short breakaway in the first period and robbed Lynden McCallum and Reinhardt back-to-back in the third.

Patera replaced Ethan Kruger when the Wheat Kings starter suffered an injury just 2:33 into the game and finished with 33 saves. Included among his denials was a great pad save on Josh Tarzwell just prior to Brandon's fourth goal.

"We had a lot of guys play well here tonight," said Sutter. "But there are things we have to work on and get better at. We just have to continue to strive for excellence and strive to get better every day.

"That's kind of what we've talked about since the start of the year but now you have to win games. We have to win hockey games now."

Next up for the Rebels are the Winnipeg Ice and former Red Deer captain Dawson Barteaux, who visit the Centrium Friday.

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