The Red Deer Rebels showed some real fight on their first-ever trip to Penticton, but it wasn’t enough to snap the Vees’ incredible hot streak. In a Sunday matinee at the South Okanagan Events Centre, the Rebels battled back from an early deficit to tie the game in the second period, only to watch Penticton pull away with a pair of third-period goals en route to a 5-3 victory. That extends the Vees’ winning run to 14 straight games—an impressive stretch that has them sitting pretty at 29-9-4-3 on the season. For the Rebels, it was a tough way to kick off their B.C. road swing. They started slow, fell behind, but then found their legs. Kalder Varga got things rolling with a goal to spark the push, Talon Brigley cut the lead, and Cameron Kuzma buried a nice one to knot it up. That equalizer stood for almost 20 minutes of tense hockey, keeping the building on edge. But Penticton emptied the tank in the final frame, scoring twice to regain control before sealing it late. The Rebels actually held a slight edge in shots (39-37), but couldn’t solve the Vees’ goaltending or capitalize when it mattered most. The loss drops Red Deer to 16-24-2-2 overall. They’ll look to bounce back Tuesday night in Kelowna as the road trip continues. Tough building to play in, and the Vees are rolling right now—no question about that. But credit to the guys in red for making it a game after a sluggish start. Gotta find a way to close those out if we’re going to turn things around on this swing.
20 year old former Swift Current Bronco and Bemidji State commit Brady Birnie opens up the scoring for the Vees 1:45 into the game. The helpers went to Manhattan Beach, California Ethan Weber and 20 year old former Calgary Hitman Matteo Denis.–Brady Birnie found the net first on Sunday deflecting a point shot from Ethan Weber, who extended his points streak to seven games, for his 17th goal of the season.
Matteo Danis makes it a 2-0 game for the Vees at 8:41 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Brady Birnie and former Saskatoon Blade Morgan Tastad.–With traffic stacked at the top of the crease, Matteo Danis slipped home for a loose puck to make it 2-0.
Former Rebel Noah Milford made it a 3-0 game for the Vees at 9:43 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Former Lethbridge Hurricane Cameron Norrie.
Kalder Varga gets the Rebels on the board at 16:17 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Nate Yellowaga.-Before the period came to a close, Nate Yellowaga fired a pass up to Beckett Hamilton, who found Kalder Varga in stride. Driving wide, Varga cut inside and tucked a backhand past Andrew Reyelts to make it a 3-1 game through 20 minutes.
Shots on goal in the first period were 16-15 for the Rebels
Talon Brigley gets the Rebels within one at 3:02 of the second period right after their Power Play expired. The assists on the goal went to Tyson Yaremko and Nate Yellowaga.–The Rebels carried that momentum into the second as Yellowaga fired a puck toward the net and Talon Brigley battled his way to the loose change, finishing the play to pull Red Deer within one.
Cameron Kuzma ties the game up for the Rebels at 6:47 of the second period with an unassisted goal.–A few minutes later, Cameron Kuzma cashed in on a sloppy turnover by the Vees’ back end. He jumped on the loose puck, raced in all alone, and picked the top corner with a quick snap shot to tie it up at 3.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-12 for the Rebels.
Burnsville, Minnesota native Jacob Kvasnicka gets the Vees the go ahead goal at 9:07 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Tristan Petersen and former Rebel Doogan Pederson.
Fort St James, BC native Diego Johnson made the game 5-3 for the Vees at 11:51 of the third period with the assist going to former Rebel Samuel Drancak.
Shots on goal in the third period were 10-8 for the Vees. The Rebels outshot the Vees 39-37 in the game.
Proctor, Minnesota native Andrew Reyelts made 36 saves on the 39 shots that he faced. For the Rebels Peyton Shore made 32 saves on the 37 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Brady Birnie 2) Matteo Danis 3) Nate Yellowaga
Attendance in Penticton was 3086
Rebels next game is Tuesday January 27th against the Memorial Cup Hosts Kelowna Rockets in Kelowna
