The Rebels cooked up a proper Thanksgiving feast Monday afternoon at the Centrium, blanking the Oil Kings 4-0 in front of a solid 3,438 crowd and snapping an 11-game winless skid against Edmonton in the process.
It didn’t take long for things to get rolling. Cameron Kuzma buried a rebound early to get the party started, then went full Gordie Howe the rest of the way—adding an assist and dropping the gloves—to finish as one of the stars of the afternoon. Poul Andersen and Beckett Hamilton added power-play goals (Andersen’s league-leading ninth of the year), and Kalder Varga sealed it with a no-looker in the third. Matthew Kondro was lights-out in net with a 34-save shutout, his first of the season. A nice side note in the middle of all that was Cash Arcand-Vandale picking up his first WHL point on the assist to Hamilton’s goal. The kid’s been waiting for that one, and it came in a game where the Rebels just looked dialed in from the jump.
Cameron Kuzma makes it a 1-0 game with his 4th of the season at 1:32 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Patrick Sopiarz.–It took the Rebels just 92 seconds to open the scoring. Patrick Sopiarz carried the puck down the wing and drove into the Oil Kings zone before firing on net. Parker Snell made the initial stop in the Oil Kings crease, but Cameron Kuzma was right there to bury the rebound and give the Rebels an early 1-0 lead.
Poul Andersen makes it 2-0 on the Power Play at 13:02 of the first period. Assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Matus Lisy.–From the slot, Beckett Hamilton fired a high shot that ricocheted off the end glass and dropped into the crease right onto Poul Andersen’s stick. Andersen buried it cleanly to double the Rebels’ lead, recording his league-leading ninth goal and 18th point.
Shots on goal in the first period were 17-12 for the Rebels
Beckett Hamilton makes it a 3-0 game at 12:10 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Cash Arcand-Vandale and Cameron Kuzma.–The Rebels scored again, with Hamilton finding the back of the net. On the power play, Cash Arcand-Vandale spotted Hamilton driving to the goal from the corner and fed him the puck, which Hamilton redirected in. The assist marked Arcand-Vandale’s first WHL point and sent the Rebels into the third period with a three-goal lead.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-12 for the Rebels
Kalder Varga makes it 4-0 at 4:39 of the third period. The assist on the goal went to Cole Temple.–Under five minutes into the third period, Kalder Varga glanced across the ice as though looking for a passing option before whipping a no-look shot along the ice past Snell to make it 4-0, sealing the Thanksgiving day game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 10-9 for the Oil Kings. The Rebels outshot the Oil Kings 41-34 in the game.
Matthew Kondro stopped all 34 shots that he faced for the win and shutout. For the Oil Kings Columbus Blue Jackets 2026 5th rounder Parker Snell stopped 37 of the 41 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Matthew Kondro 2) Cameron Kuzma 3) Cash Arcand-Vandale
Attendance in Red Deer was 3438
Rebels next game is Friday October 16th at home against the Victoria Royals.
