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Rebels extend losing streak to 5 against ‘Canes

4-3 loss comes after a disappointing 6-5 S/O loss on Saturday
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Red Deer Rebel 3 - 4 Lethbridge Hurricanes

The Red Deer Rebels (4-6-0-1) were desperate for a win against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7-4-0-1) on Tuesday after blowing a 4-1 lead against the Regina Pats on Saturday.

A win for the Rebels, who ended up losing to the Pats 6-5 in a shootout, could also end a four game drought that saw them being outscored 24-7 by their opponents.

It would be the Hurricanes who would blow in and continue their own sixth game win streak, while pushing the Rebels losing streak to 5 with a 4-3 win.

“I thought our compete level was really good tonight but overall our penalty kill killed us tonight,” Forward Zak Smith, who scored two goals, said.

The first period would not be the game-changer the Rebels needed, but nor would it be decisive. Red Deer would play Lethbridge fairly even, only giving up a late period goal to Defencemen Koletraine Wilson, leading to a 1-0 Hurricane lead after 1.

It looked like the Hurricanes were going to blow the Rebels away in the second period, put a late powerplay goal by Smith kept the Lethbridge lead at 4-2.

Justin Hall would score on the man advantage, Wilson would add his second of the game and Oliver Okuliar would round out the second period scoring for the ‘Canes.

“We can’t allow three powerplay goals when our five on five is going good. You can’t take a night off on your PK. That really killed us tonight,” Smith said.

Jayden Grubbe would notch the earlier goal for Red Deer, adding up to the second period scoring total.

The Rebels would push had in the third to cut the gap and Smith would manage to score his second of the game, but it wouldn’t be enough — leading to a 4-3 Lethbridge win.

“It has been a slow year so it is nice to get two goals. At the end of the day, you have to look at our team and we have lost five in a row. We have to get back in the win column. That is what is most important,” Smith said.

Bryan Thomson would stop 26 save for the win, while Ethan Anders stopped 23 in the loss. It was the first game all season that the Rebels out shot their opponent.

The Rebels have four more meetings against the ‘Canes this season, with the Rebels taking the initial outing 5-2.

The Rebels will play Seattle at home on Friday at 7 p.m., before hitting the road or a six-game road trip while CFR is at the Westerner Park Centrium.



todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com

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