The Vancouver Giants visited Red Deer for the first time in 2 years on Tuesday night. It was a rough start for the rebels and the Giants got three Power Play goals in the first period.
Mazden Leslie scored on the Power Play for the Giants at 7:49 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Colton Roberts and Ty Halaburda.–Leslie took a pass from Roberts and let a low shot go from the right circle that beat Wutzke through the five hole to make it 1-0.
Ty Halaburda made it a 2-0 game for the Giants on the Power play at 16:35 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Mazden Leslie and Colton Roberts.–After Matthew Gard was called for cross-checking, the Giants extended their lead to 2-0 thanks to a great cross-seam pass from Leslie to Halaburda in the slot, who snapped it home for his third goal of the season.
Ivan Hlinka Gold Medal Winner Cameron Schmidt got a flukey trickler that just sneaked by Wutzke with only 9 seconds left in the first period. The assist on the goal went to Connor Levis–Then, with only nine seconds left in the period, Schmidt was able to find a loose puck just outside the crease and shoot it off a defender and in, giving the Giants a commanding 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-8 for the Giants
Cohen Poulin scored his 3rd goal of the season at 1:39 of the second period with the assist going to Evan Smith after a turnover behind the Giants net. It is still early in the season but that marker has the rookie Poulin tied for the Rebels lead in goals this season.–Early in the second, Red Deer got on the board after a turnover behind the Giants net.
Aaron Obobaifo scored for the Giants at 6:15 of the second period with the assists going to 20 year old former Lethbridge Hurricane Tyson Zimmer and Mazden Leslie.
Jakob Oreskovic made it a 5-1 game for the Giants at 8:10 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Mazden Leslie and Adam Titlibach.–Only 1:55 after Obobaifo made it 4-1, a fellow first round pick from 2022 increased the Giants lead yet again. Jakob Oreskovic tipped it Leslie’s point shot at the 8:10 mark of the middle frame to make it 5-1 for Vancouver.
Hunter Mayo got the Rebels a little closer at 12:46 of the second period from the middle of the high circles to cut the Giants lead to 5-2. The assist on the goal went to Saskatoon native Trae Wilke–The Rebels got one goal back just a few minutes later off a laser of a shot from Mayo, but that would be the last goal scored in the hockey game.
Shots on goal in the second period were 13-9 for the Rebels.
The Giants went 3 for 3 on the Power Play. The Rebels went 0 for 4.
Shots on goal in the scoreless third period were 13-4 for the Rebels with the Rebels outshooting the Giants in the game 34-28.
Nanaimo, BC native Matthew Hutchison made 32 saves on the 34 shots that he faced for the Giants. For the Rebels Chase Wutzke stopped 23 of the 28 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Mazden Leslie 2) Ty Halaburda 3) Hunter Mayo
Attendance in Red Deer was 2,906
Rebels next game is Wednesday October 9th in Medicine Hat against the Tigers for the 4th time this season.
Jaxon Fuder made his Rebels debut last night. Fuder is a Cold Lake, Alberta native who split last season between Powell River and Cranbrook of the BCHL. He had already played 4 games this season with the Powell River Kings recording 6 points in just 4 games.
Former Rebels goalie Kyle Kelsey has signed with the Estevan Bruins of the SJHL. Kelsey split last season between the Rebels and the Americans. The now 20 year old from Maple Ridge, BC started in 43 games for the Rebels since 2022 before being traded to the Tri City Americans in exchange for a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.
