The Red Deer Rebels scored three goals in the opening frame, leading to a 4-1 victory over the Regina Pats on Tuesday at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
The Pats opened up their four-game Alberta road trip with the final game of the season series against the Rebels. Red Deer led 3-0 after one, with goals from Beckett Hamilton, Derek Thurston, and Talon Brigley in the opening period.
The Pats finished the second frame on a high note, getting a power play goal from Keets Fawcett to make it 3-1. That gave the team some jump in the third period, where they outshot the Rebels 10-6 before Matthew Gard sealed it with an empty netter.
FINAL SCORE: Rebels 4, Pats 1
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Rebels at 7:51 – Beckett Hamilton (11), assisted by Jhett Larson // The Pats coughed the puck up along the right boards in their zone with Larson taking control. He found a wide-open Hamilton in the slot and tucked it past Pyne to make it 1-0 Rebels.
2-0: Rebels at 10:47 – Derek Thurston (8), assisted by Ty Coupland & Nishan Parmar (PP) // Thurston got the puck at the midpoint, and he let a slapshot go that beat a screened Pyne to extend the Rebels lead to 2-0.
3-0: Rebels at 18:48 – Talon Brigley (7), assisted by Brett Calhoon & // The Rebels won a puck battle along the back boards, and Calhoon found Brigley cutting to the net and as he was falling to the ice, he was able to put a backhand shot past Pyne to extend the lead to 3-0.
Second Period
3-1: Pats at 14:14 – Keets Fawcett (8), assisted by Cohen Klassen & Julien Maze (PP) // Klassen picked up a loose puck along the back boards and found Fawcett at the right circle. He had time to shoot and fired it past Wutzke to get the Pats on the board down 3-1.
Third Period
4-1: Rebels at 19:26 – Matthew Gard (11), unassisted (PP-EN) // The Rebels forced a turnover at their line, and Gard was sprung on a breakaway and he sealed the game with the empty net goal to make it 4-1.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 10-7-10–27 | Red Deer – 11-10-6–27
PP: Regina – 1/6 | Red Deer – 2/7
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne (23 saves / 27 shots)
Red Deer: Chase Wutzke (26 saves / 27 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Talon Brigley (1G) – Rebels
Second: Nishan Parmar (1A) – Rebels
Third: Julien Maze (1A) – Pats
JUST NOTES
- Keets Fawcett scored his eighth goal of the season and sixth with the Pats ending a four-game goalless drought. His last three goals have been to the man's advantage.
- Cohen Klassen has points in back-to-back games with assists in both.
- The season series finished with Regina going 2-2 against Red Deer.
- The Pats fell to 14-31-4-2 while the Rebels improved to 20-26-4-2.
COMING UP
The Pats continue their five-game road swing with a matchup against the hometown Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday, February 12, in the second game of a four-game Alberta tour.
