WHL Red Deer Rebels

Rebels Battle Back to Force Overtime But Come up Short Versus Tigers

Published on March 11, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


MEDICINE HAT - The Red Deer Rebels' performance on Tuesday evening was somewhat of a mixed bag.

The good outweighed the bad, though, as the visitors extended the 40-plus win Medicine Hat Tigers to overtime before falling 4-3 in front of 3,553 fans at the Canalta Centre.

"We did some really good things here tonight. We had some moments when we played really well, had some moments where we got off track a bit with some turnovers," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.

"And we took a couple bad penalties."

The Tigers were two-for-four on their vaunted power play, with both coming courtesy of avoidable Red Deer infractions that occurred in the offensive zone. The Rebels were zero-for-three with a man advantage.

Josh Tarzwell gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the contest when his shot glanced off the glass and then off netminder Garin Bjorklund and over the line.

But Elijah Brown pulled the hosts even shortly after, cashing a backhand rebound from his knees with Rebels forward Ben King serving a roughing penalty.

Ryan Chyzowski notched a short-handed goal for the Tigers with 12 seconds remaining in the opening period, circling the Red Deer net, turning and beating netminder Ethan Anders between his pad and the post from a sharp angle. Anders was otherwise the Rebels' best player with a stellar 42-save effort.

"Outside of that goal he was outstanding. He played really well," said Sutter.

Defenceman Joel Sexsmith deadlocked the contest at two early in the second period when he carried the puck over the blueline and from the left circle slipped a shot through Bjorklund's pads.

But the Tigers regained the lead with their second man-advantage marker late in the frame. Red Deer's Arshdeep Bains took a holding penalty at 15:47 and Cole Sillinger, from the side of the net, lifted a rebound over Anders 17 seconds later.

"They're a team that thrives on their power play. You can't take those types of penalties," said Sutter.

Bains made amends by nothing his 18th goal of the season at the 13-minute mark of the third period. King fed Bains from behind the net and his linemate, at the edge of the crease, fired a quick shot past Bjorklund, who finished with 21 saves.

From there, the teams worked the game to overtime and Chyzowski ended it 1:46 into the extra session with a perfectly placed shot to Anders' glove side.

While the Rebels have been eliminated from playoff contention, the Tigers now have 41 wins on the season and are nicely positioned to finish second in both the Central Division and Eastern Conference.

"They're an older team that comes at you pretty hard," said Sutter. "You have to play smart against them. When you put yourself down a man or have too many turnovers you're asking for trouble.

"But for the most part I thought we played really well tonight."

The Rebels take on the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday to complete their brief two-game trip.

Notable: Chris Douglas made short work of Tigers defenceman Eric Van Impe in a late second-period scrap. The two had exchanged unpleasantries earlier in the game . . . The Tigers swept the three star selections - 1. Brown (1g,1a); 2. Brett Kemp (3a); 3. Chyzowski (2g) . . . The Rebels are home to the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday, then visit Calgary for a Sunday afternoon rematch. From there, Red Deer will host Medicine Hat next Tuesday before closing out their season with back-to-back meetings with the Edmonton Oil Kings, March 20 at the Centrium and the following day in the provincial capital.

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 11, 2020


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