The Red Deer Rebels had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday night in Lethbridge, falling 5-4 in a shootout after a back-and-forth game that saw the lead change hands a few times. Easton Daneault, a Red Deer native, buried the winner in the sixth round after five scoreless ones, giving the Hurricanes their first home win in a while and ending a rough stretch at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
It’s a weird one when you look at the standings. The Rebels are sitting near the top of the Eastern Conference with 25 points and first in the Central Division after a strong start, while the Canes are around 17 points and closer to the middle of the pack. Losing two straight to Lethbridge—an OT loss at home on Oct. 24 and now this one on the road—doesn’t quite match the rest of the season so far, especially with the Rebels still rolling offensively and getting contributions from guys like Poul Andersen. They get a point out of it, but it’s the kind of result that makes you wonder if the Canes just have their number right now.
Matus Lisy makes it a 1-0 game for the Rebels on the Power Play at 13:44 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Cameron Kuzma and Poul Andersen.–Lisy ripped one from the blue line on the power play that somehow found a way through all the traffic in front and beat Oaten clean to open the scoring.
Gavin Lesiuk ties the game up for the Hurricanes at 15:14 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Dayne Beuker and Will Scott.–Lesiuk jammed one in at the side of the net to tie it up not long after Lisy’s opener. The big 6’5 forward from Duncan has always been a physical presence and this was his fifth of the year.
Owen Berge scores his fifth goal of the season to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 16:19 of the first period. The assist on the goal went to Easton Daneault.–Berge whacked in a backhand off a feed from Daneault about a minute later to give the Canes the lead. Their new captain’s been producing at a solid clip since coming over from Moose Jaw last year.
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-10 for the Hurricanes
Cameron Kuzma ties the game up just 15 seconds into the second period with his 6th goal of the season. The assists on the goal went to Patrick Sopiarz and Matus Lisy.–Kuzma tied it 15 seconds into the second with his sixth of the season off setups from Lisy and Sopiarz. The St. Albert kid’s been one of the tougher players to play against in the league this year with the hits and the points
Grady Pichette gives the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead at 1:10 of the second period. The helpers on the goal went to Gavin Lesiuk and Reid Soper.–Pichette buried Lesiuk’s backhand centering pass from behind the net to put Lethbridge back in front early in the second. It was the 17-year-old Okotoks defenceman’s first of the year and he’s been getting looks as a 2027 draft prospect.
Jake Evans gets the Hurricanes up by 2 at 11:46 of the second period with the assists on that goal going to Grady Pichette and Oliver Vanha.–Evans scored his first of the season about 12 minutes into the second off Pichette and Vanha to make it 4-2. The 2009-born Saskatoon forward’s still finding his way in the league but nights like this show why they kept him.
Poul Andersen scores his 16th goal of the season to get the Rebels within one on the Power Play at 12:57 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Jake Banicevic.–Andersen got one back on the power play late in the second from Hamilton and Banicevic. The Minnesota native’s been the Rebels’ leading scorer all year and he just keeps finding ways to produce.
Shots on goal in the second period were 11-7 for the Hurricanes
Patrick Sopiars ties the game up for the Rebels at 14:30 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Jake Banicevic and Cameron Kuzma.–Sopiarz jammed one home in a goalmouth scramble with about five and a half left in the third to tie it. The Edmonton kid’s been mixing it up physically all season while still putting up points in a bigger role.
Shots on goal in the third period were 14-8 for the Rebels
Shots on goal in the overtime period were 6-2 for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes outshot the Rebels 41-33 in the game.
For the Hurricanes Leif Oaten stopped 29 of the 33 shots that he faced for the win. For the Rebels Matthew Kondro stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced
Three Stars of the game were 1) Grady Pichette 2) Cameron Kuzma 3) Gavin Lesiuk
Attendance in Lethbridge was 3416
Rebels next game is Saturday November 7th in Red Deer against the Prince Albert Raiders
