Rebels Win 4-3 in Calgary
March 7, 2016 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release
CALGARY - Two out of three ain't bad.
At least it wasn't Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Red Deer Rebels ruled in the first and last periods and were so-so in the middle frame while posting a 4-3 Western Hockey League win over the Calgary Hitmen before 9,328 fans.
"In the first and third (periods) we were solid, but in the second two things happened - the penalties called against us allowed them to get some momentum going and took away from us," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.
That being said . . .
"Overall I thought we were pretty solid," Sutter continued. "We played hard and that's what we expect from this group. We have to play that way.
"There are always things we have to get better at and improve on, but we can't get better and improve unless our work ethic and compete level is where it needs to be."
The Rebels led 1-0 after one period thanks to Colton Bobyk's power-play goal midway through the frame, his blast from the point finding its way through a crowd and past Hitmen net minder Cody Porter.
Evan Polei appeared to make it 2-0 shortly after, but it was ruled that the Rebels forward knocked the puck into the net with a high stick.
"That didn't bother us, we kept with it through the remainder of the period," said Sutter, whose squad held a 12-4 advantage in shots over the first 20 minutes.
Polei scored early in the second period after taking a two-on-one feed from Adam Musil, but the Hitmen - who outshot their guests 15-2 in the middle stanza - closed to the gap to a single goal when Travis Sanheim unloaded a quick point shot that eluded Rebels netminder Trevor Martin.
"In the second period we got outplayed. They (Hitmen) got some quality chances off their power play," said Sutter, whose team was assessed three of four minor infractions in the frame.
Carsen Twarynski pulled the hosts even at 4:18 of the final frame, but Jake DeBrusk replied for the Rebels just over two minutes later when he cashed his own rebound during a power play.
Luke Philp scored an empty-net marker from centre ice to give the Rebels a 4-2 lead at 18:36 and Calgary's Jordy Stallard made it interesting when he replied 27 seconds later, but the hosts couldn't find one last goal.
The Rebels finished two-for-five on the power play and were four-for-four on the penalty kill.
"Our penalty kill did a job for us," said Sutter. "Your best penalty killer is your goaltender and Marty made some saves for us tonight."
Martin finished with 23 saves, one more than Porter.
"Marty is a battler, he battles hard and you can't ask for anything more than that from your goaltender," said Sutter. "He has the ability to get over some tough goals because he continues to battle."
Sutter was more than OK with his club's performance, considering his players' willingness to compete at a high level while posting a fourth consecutive win.
"When you look at our last four games, at Regina and Swift Current and then these last two (back-to-back wins over Calgary), with our competitiveness, our work ethic and how hard we played . . . that's as well as we've played all year in those categories," said the Rebels boss.
With the win, Red Deer moved nine points clear of the Hitmen for second place in the Central Division.
The Rebels host the Prince Albert Raiders Tuesday at the Centrium.
Western Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2016
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- Ingram Named Goalie of the Week - Kamloops Blazers
- Portland Winterhawks this Week - Portland Winterhawks
- Wheat Kings' Hawryluk Named WHL Player of the Week - WHL
- Broncos Host Warriors in Monday Nighter - Swift Current Broncos
- Flodell, Seattle Blank Tri-City 4-0 - Tri-City Americans
- Wheat Kings Bounce Pats - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Rebels Win 4-3 in Calgary - Red Deer Rebels
- T-Birds Shut out Americans for Eight Game Win Streak - Seattle Thunderbirds
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