Saturday afternoon in Calgary turned into one of those frustrating ones for the Rebels. They controlled long stretches of the game at the Saddledome, pouring shots on Aidan Hesse and outshooting the Hitmen by a wide margin—something in the neighbourhood of 37-24 or even higher depending on the count—yet still walked away with a 7-3 loss that snapped their five-game winning streak.
The Hitmen got the early jump with a pair of goals in the opening eight minutes, then cashed in on special teams opportunities in the second period to build a 5-1 lead. Red Deer kept generating chances and got within two late on power-play markers from Grayden Peterson and Beckett Hamilton, but Calgary’s goaltending and timely finishing (Carter Sanderson’s hat trick being the big one) made the difference. It’s the kind of result that stings a bit more because the shot totals and territorial play suggested the Rebels were the better team for large parts of the afternoon. Still, the group remains at the top of the Central Division at 7-3-0-1, and this was only the third meeting of what will be a long season series between the two clubs.
Sherwood Park, Alberta native Grady Anaka made it a 1-0 game at 4:40 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Julien Maze.–Grady Anaka scored the game’s opening goal early in the first period, “sneaking one in” to give the Calgary Hitmen a 1-0 lead, assisted by Julien Maze.
Kamloops, BC native and University of Denver commit Hunter Aura made it a 2-0 game at 7:13 of the first period with an unassisted goal.–Hunter Aura scored the Hitmen’s second goal of the game on the power play early in the first period, extending Calgary’s lead to 2-0 within the opening eight minutes. The tally came after a high-sticking penalty on the Rebels and helped establish an early advantage
Grayden Petersen scores his third goal of the season to get the Rebels on the board and cut the lead by 1 at 8:50 of the first period while on the Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Kalder Varga and Beckett Hamilton.– Grayden Peterson scored the Rebels’ first goal on the power play halfway through the opening period, tapping in a rebound to cut the Hitmen’s lead to 2-1. The timely response, coming after Calgary’s early 2-0 start, marked Peterson’s third goal in four games and got Red Deer on the board before the teams headed into the second period.
Shots on goal in the first period were 12-8 for the Hitmen
Calder Hamilton the sixth overall pick in the 2024 WHL Bantam draft made it a 3-1 game for the Hitmen on the Power Play at 10:40 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to former Vernon Viper Charlie Kresl and Russian Artem Katsuro.–Calder Hamilton restored Calgary’s two-goal lead early in the second period by tapping in a backdoor pass from Charlie Kresl on the power play, making it 3-1 just seconds into Grayden Peterson’s high-sticking penalty. The quick strike marked Hamilton’s first goal of the season and sparked a three-goal Hitmen surge that stretched the advantage to 5-1 by the end of the frame.
Hitmen Captain and Pierre, South Dakota native Carter Sanderson scored his 9th goal of the season to make it a 4-1 game at 11:04 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Charlie Kresl and Hunter Aura.
Pittsburgh Penguins 2025 6th rounder and former Muskegon Lumberjack Carter Sanderson scores his second goal of the game and 10th of the season at 15:45 of the second period while shorthanded. The assist on the goal went to Charlie Kresl.
Shots on goal in the second period were 19-5 for the Rebels
Greydan Petersen scores his second Power Play goal of the game at 5:25 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Jiri Kamas.–Grayden Peterson scored his second goal of the game early in the third period on the power play, following up his own shot and banging home the rebound to cut the Hitmen’s lead to 5-2. The tally, which came nearly 5:30 into the final frame on Red Deer’s seventh man advantage, marked the first multi-goal game of Peterson’s WHL career and sparked a late Rebels push.
Beckett Hamilton scores on the Power Play at 16:26 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Patrick Sopiarz and Kalder Varga.–Captain Beckett Hamilton scored on the power play with less than four minutes remaining in the third period, making it 5-3 and bringing the Rebels within two goals of the Hitmen. The ninth goal of his season extended his point streak to six games and completed a late Red Deer push on the man advantage, though it proved too little too late
Carter Sanderson got an unassisted goal into the empty net at 17:23 of the third period to make it a 6-3 game and complete his hat trick.
Calder Hamilton got his second goal of the game at 18:54 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Andrei Molgachev and Grady Anaka.
Shots on goal in the third period were 12-7 for the Rebels. The Rebels oushot the Hitmen 39-24 in the game.
Aiden Hesse stopped 36 of the 39 shots that he faced for the win for the Hitmen. For the Rebels Nathan Salisbury stopped 17 of the 23 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Carter Sanderson 2) Charlie Kresl 3) Beckett Hamilton
Attendance in Calgary was 2251
Rebels next game is Friday October 23rd against the Penticton Vees
