The Red Deer Rebels put up a gritty fight, hanging tough against the Portland Winterhawks right up to the dying seconds, even if it wasn’t their sharpest night on the ice. But then came the heartbreak: Portland slipped in a late dagger of a goal, followed by an empty-net insurance tally, to snatch a shocking 3-1 victory at the Marchant Crane Centrium. Rebels netminder Chase Wutzke was a brick wall, stopping 25 of 28 shots, and Landon MacSwain chipped in his second goal in as many outings. Over in the Portland crease, Ondrej Stebetak was lights-out, denying 30 Rebel attempts.
Former Brooks Bandit Nathan Brown scored for the Winterhawks to make it a 1-0 game at 14:16 of the first period with the helpers on the goal going to 17 year old Edmontonian Jordan Duguay and Chaska, Minnesota native Sam Spehar.
Shots on goal after the first period were 14-13 for the Rebels
Landon MacSwain ties the game up for the Rebels at 19:51 of the second period with his second goal of the season. The assist on the goal went to Ty Coupland and Noah Milford.
Shots on goal in the second period were 11-9 for the Winterhawks
Reed Brown gave the Winterhawks the lead at 19:32 of the third period with the assists on the goal going to Carter Sotheran and Sam Spehar.–The deadlock held until the final minute of regulation. With a delayed penalty pending against Red Deer, Reed Brown tipped home the go-ahead goal with just 27 seconds left to play.
Ryan Miller put one into the empty net for the Winterhawks to make it a 3-1 game unassisted with 3 seconds left in the game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 8-4 for the Rebels. The Rebels outshot the Winterhawks 31-28 in the game.
For The Winterhawks Czech native Ondrej Stebetak made 30 saves on the 31 shots that he faced for the win. For the Rebels Chase Wutzke made 25 saves on the 27 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Reed Brown 2) Ondrej Stebetak 3) Chase Wutzke
Attendance in Red Deer was 3262
Rebels next game is Saturday October 18th in Red Deer against the Spokane Chiefs
