The Red Deer Rebels found their hero on a superhero-themed night at the Marchant Crane Centrium, where fans showed up in capes to support Children’s Miracle Network. After the Brandon Wheat Kings tied it late in the third, Beckett Hamilton stepped up just 29 seconds into overtime, burying the winner for a gritty 3-2 victory. Matej Mikes led the charge with two goals, including a key shorthanded tally, while goaltender Matthew Kondro stood tall with 39 saves on 41 shots to earn the quiet hero nod. Coach Marc Habscheid called it a “ring-a-ding-dong dandy” in the style of Ed Whalen—maybe not pretty, but structured and careful, with the penalty kill shutting down all four Brandon chances. “At this point, it doesn’t matter what it looks like,” he said. “You’ve got to find a way to win.” The two points let the Rebels reclaim sole possession of the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, now two ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors (who got crushed 11-0 by Prince Albert) and with a game in hand. They also completed a 3-1 season series sweep over Brandon. Next up: hosting Calgary on Saturday at 6 p.m., then road trips to Lethbridge and back-to-back against Medicine Hat to close the regular season. On the injury front, forward Tyson Yaremko is week-to-week with an upper-body issue, and defenseman Aleksey Chichkin missed the game after getting hurt Tuesday—his status remains unclear.
Wheat Kings Captain and RPI commit Caleb Hadland made it a 1-0 game for the Wheat Kings at 14:52 of the first period. The assists went to former Okotoks Oiler Brett Wilson and Arizona State commit Jimmy Egan.–Brandon got the scoring started by lighting the lamp, finishing off a perfect drop pass from Caleb Hadland, who took the feed from Brett Wilson. Hadland wired a clean shot past Kondro late in the first period.
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-8 for the Wheat Kings
Matej Mikes scores his 10th goal of the season just 54 seconds into the second period to tie the game up. The assist on the goal went to Kohen Lodge.-Just 45 seconds or so into the second period, Matej Mikes grabbed the puck deep in the Wheat Kings’ end, curled behind the net, then cut back hard to the bottom of the left circle and snapped a quick one upstairs to knot the score.
Matej Mikes scored his second goal of the game and 11th of the season at 6:13 of the second period unassisted to make it a 2-1 Rebels game.– While shorthanded, Mikes struck again for the hat-trick threat. He charged hard into the zone and ripped a shot on Filip Ruzicka. The Wheat Kings netminder got a glove on it but couldn’t corral the puck, so Mikes kept right on coming, followed his own rebound, and poked the loose puck home off the post for his second of the night.
Shots on goal in the second period were 11-10 for the Wheat Kings
Jaxon Jacobsen tied the game up for the Wheat Kings at 17:58 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to former Swift Current Bronco Grayson Burzynski and Yorkton, Saskatchewan native Cameron Allard.–Late in the third with just two minutes left and the Wheat Kings’ net empty for the extra attacker, Jaxon Jacobson came up huge—ripping a high shot from way down along the goal line to pull Brandon back even and force overtime. What a clutch play to set up the extra-frame drama!
Shots on goal in the third period were 15-8 for the Wheat Kings
Beckett Hamilton scored the overtime winner for the Rebels just 29 seconds in with the assist on the goal going to Poul Andersen.–Right in the opening minute of overtime, Poul Andersen controlled the puck down low along the boards, patiently waited, then hit Hamilton with a perfect feed as he burst into the zone. Hamilton wasted no time—unleashing a laser of a shot that found the back of the net to seal the overtime winner and steal the game!
Shots on goal in the overtime were 1-0 for the Rebels. The Wheat Kings outshot the Rebels 41-27 in the game.
Matthew Kondro made 39 saves on the 41 shots that he faced for the win for the Rebels. For the Wheat Kings Filip Ruzicka made 24 saves on the 27 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Matthew Kondro 2) Matej Mikes 3) Jaxon Jacobsen
Rebels next game is Saturday March 14th against the Calgary Hitmen in Red Deer
