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WHL Red Deer Rebels

Rebels Battle Back to Edge Broncos in Dominant Performance

November 11, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


SWIFT CURRENT - Any other outcome would have been unjust, considering the manner in which the Red Deer Rebels dominated the Swift Current Broncos following the first period of a WHL game Sunday.

Each team threw nine shots on goal during the first period, but the Rebels outshot their hosts 39-8 the rest of the way, including the overtime period in which the visitors got the winning goal from captain Reese Johnson.

"The kids played hard here tonight. We were a good team,"said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter, following his club's 3-2 win in front of 2,319 fans at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

Johnson ended the relatively one-sided contest at the one-minute mark of overtime, firing his own rebound through the pads of Broncos netminder Joel Hofer, who was named second star of the game following a 44-save performance.

Broncos forward Ben King notched the lone goal of the first period, beating a partially-screened Rebels goaltender Byron Fancy to the low stick side from the high slot.

The hosts went up 2-0 a mere 40 seconds into the second period when Max Patterson worked out of the corner and had his attempted cross-crease pass bank off the skate of Rebels defenceman Carson Sass and past Fancy.

But that was it for the Broncos, who were badly outplayed the rest of the way.

"We got down two but didn't get frustrated," said Sutter. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy and it never is. But we just had to stick with it and the kids did. And whenever they (Broncos) happened to get a chance, Byron made the save."

Zak Smith got the Rebels on the board 47 seconds after Patterson's goal, ripping a high shot past Hofer after the puck bounced to him in the low slot.

Then, following heavy pressure by the Rebels through the remainder of the period, Smith carried the puck over the blueline and fed Josh Tarzwell, whose high shot went off the post and in at 19:34.

The third period, also dominated by the Rebels, was scoreless, although Fancy made a game-saving stop on Ethan O'Rourke with 15 seconds remaining.

"It was a good character win. The boys played hard," said Sutter.

The Rebels' top scorer, Brandon Hagel, didn't suit up Sunday due to a bothersome - albeit minor - injury.

"It's nothing major. Something has been nagging him since last weekend against Calgary and after he played the first two games of the trip ( a 6-3 loss in Brandon and Saturday's 4-3 win at Moose Jaw), he got a little sore.

"So we just thought we'd rest him today and get him ready for next weekend."

The victory capped a successful three-game jaunt for the Rebels.

"We got four of six points," said Sutter. "Last night's game was also in overtime, but I thought we played pretty well and played well again today."

Notable: Defenceman Jacob Herauf was back in the Red Deer lineup after leaving Friday's game in Brandon with an upper-body injury and then sitting out Saturday's contest in Moose Jaw . . . . Johnson and Smith were selected as the game's first and third stars . . . The Rebels return to action next weekend with the Kelowna Rockets and Kootenay Ice visiting the Centrium Friday and Saturday, respectively.

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