The Red Deer Rebels came home Saturday night looking to cash in on a second straight game of outshooting and out-chancing the other team. Instead they ran into the same old problem against Edmonton. A 42-shot barrage and a loud 4,021-strong crowd at the Marchant Crane Centrium for the Advocate Home Opener weren’t enough, and the Oil Kings skated away with a 3-1 win that stretched their streak over the Rebels to 11 games.Red Deer jumped all over Edmonton early, pumping 23 shots on net in the first period while allowing just five. Kalder Varga evened it at 1-1 with a bar-down snipe off a faceoff win, his first of the year. After that the Oil Kings got physical, the bounces started going their way, and two more deflections and odd-angle goals did the rest. Matthew Kondro kept it close with 23 saves, but Ethan Simcoe was the difference, turning aside 41 of 42 shots while Red Deer went 0-for-7 on the power play. Two nights into the season the Rebels sit 0-1-0-1 and still searching for that first finish.
Oil Kings score at 7:30 of the first period on a flukey bounce. Former Drumheller Dragon Jensen Marsh got his first of the season at 7:30 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Aaron Obobaifo and North Vancouver native Josh Lee.
Kalder Varga ties the game up at 13:33 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Poul Andersen and Cameron Kuzma.
Shots on goal in the first period were 23-6 for the Rebels.
Shots on goal in the second period were 7-6 for the Rebels
St. Claude, Manitoba native Cole Landreville gives the Oil Kings the lead at 1:54 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to rookie Czech Import Jonas Vanicek and Rogers, Minnesota Matthew Hauser.
Kayden Stroeder fires it into the empty net 3-1 oil Kings at 19:52 of the third period with the assist going to Dylan Dean.
Shots on goal in the third period were 14-12 for the Oil Kings. The Rebels outshot the Oil Kings 42-26 in the game
Ethan Simcoe played amazing and pretty much single handedly won the game for the Oil Kings stopping 41 of the 42 shots that he faced for the win. For the Rebels Matthew Kondro stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Ethan Simcoe 2) Zeb Lindgren 3) Aaron Obobaifo
Attendance in Edmonton was 4021
Rebels next game is Friday September 25th in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes
