Friday night at the Centrium turned into one of those games that reminds you why you show up early. The Hitmen jumped all over Red Deer with a pair of shorthanded goals inside the first four minutes and looked ready to run away with it. Instead, the Rebels just kept coming. By the time the dust settled it was 8-5, and the building felt a whole lot louder than it did after that early hole.
Seven different guys found the net, the power play eventually clicked when it needed to, and a few firsts of the season (and one long-awaited first WHL goal) showed up at the right time. After a couple of quiet losses mixed into the early schedule, this one felt like a statement — not just that the Rebels can score in bunches, but that they can absorb a bad start and still take over against a rival.
2025 Pittsburgh Penguins 6th rounder Carter Sanderson gets the Hitmen on the board first with a short handed goal at 3:03 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Russian Import and University of Connecticut commit Andrei Molgachev.– Rebels cough it up in the neutral zone, Molgachev finds Sanderson who goes in alone and makes no mistake going topshelf beating Kondro to make it a 1-0 game. Sanderson played with Muskegon last year in the USHL.
Edmonton native Julien Maze makes it a 2-0 game getting the Hitmen their second shorthanded goal at 4:26 of the first period unassisted.
Patrick Sopiarz scores his second goal of the season to get the Rebels on the board at the Power Play at 19:58 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Matus Lisy.–Red Deer’s man-advantage finally paid off in the closing moments of the first period when Patrick Sopiarz buried a one-timer off a crisp feed from Matus Lisy. The tally, with just 1.3 seconds remaining, sliced the Rebels’ deficit in half heading into the first intermission.
Shots on goal in the first period were 16-8 for the Hitmen
Patrick Sopiarz scores his second goal of the game and third of the season at 1:20 of the second period on the Power Play to tie the game up at 2. The assist on the goal went to Matus Lisy.–Sopiarz kept the momentum rolling himself, converting another strong feed from Lisy just minutes into the second period to knot the score at 2-2 for his third goal of the season.
Grayden Petersen makes it a 3-2 game for the Rebels at 5:18 of the second period scoring his first WHL goal. The assist on the goal went to Poul Andersen.–A few minutes after that, the Rebels grabbed their first lead of the night when Poul Andersen set up Grayden Peterson, who drove in and deked Calgary goaltender Eric Tu to score his long-awaited first WHL goal.
Pierre, South Dakota native and University of North Dakota commit Carter Sanderson scores his second goal of the night for the Hitmen to tie the game up at 3 at 8:43 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Calder Hamilton and Calgary Flames 2026 6th rounder Bode Laylin. Laylin was recently acquired by the Hitmen from the Everett Silvertips.–Sanderson tied the game 3-3 when he tipped home a point shot for his second tally of the game and seventh of the season.
Owen Dewitt makes it a 4-3 game when he scores his first of the season at 9:33 of the second period with the assist on the goal going to Nolan Schmidt.–Only 50 seconds after the Sanderson goal, Owen DeWitt drove hard to the net and shoveled the puck home for his first of the season, putting the Rebels back in front.
Matus Lisy gives the Rebels a 5-3 lead at 9:42 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Jiri Kamas and newly acquire Jake Banicevic playing in his first game. This marked the end of Hitmen goalie Eric Tu’s night.-Just nine seconds later, Lisy blasted a rocket from the left point for his first of the season, ending Tu’s night after the Calgary netminder had surrendered five goals on 15 shots.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-6 for the Rebels.
Jake Missura nets his first goal of the season just 35 seconds into the third period. The assists on the goal went to Zeb Lindgren and Cameron Kuzma.–Jake Missura made it 6-3 to start the third period with his first goal of the season and second of his career past Calgary goaltender Aidan Hesse.
Jiri Kamas makes it a 7-3 game at 4:36 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Poul Andersen and Beckett Hamilton.–Jiri Kamas ripped one home for his first of the season to give Red Deer a four-goal advantage.
St. Michaels, Minnesota native Bode Laylin scores for the Hitmen at 11:30 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Grady Anaka and Keaton Jundt.–Bode Laylin, a Calgary Flames prospect playing his first game for the Hitmen after being acquired from Everett on Thursday, beat Matthew Kondro with a seeing-eye shot from the point to push the score to 7-4.
Poul Andersen makes it an 8-4 game for the Rebels with his 8th goal of the season at 16:50 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Jiri Kamas.–The highlight of the night arrived five minutes later when Beckett Hamilton delivered a brilliant setup for Andersen, who buried his league-leading eighth goal of the season—and third point of the game—to make it 8-4.
Grady Anaka scores for the Hitmen at 17:04 of the third period. Unassisted.
Shots on goal in the third period were 10-5 for the Rebels. The Rebels outshot the Hitmen 33-27 in the game.
For the Rebels Matthew Kondro stopped 22 of the 27 shots that he faced for the win for the Rebels. For the Hitmen Eric Tu stopped 10 of the 15 shots he faced until he was replaced after the Lisy goal in the second period. He was replaced by Aidan Hesse who stopped 15 of the 18 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Jiri Kamas 2) Matus Lisy 3) Poul Andersen
Attendance in Red Deer was 3566
Rebels next game is Thanksgiving Monday in Red Deer October 12th against the Edmonton Oil Kings at 2pm.
