Red Deer Rebels rally past Calgary Hitmen 8-5 despite early shorthanded goals
The Rebels overcame a 2-0 deficit built on two Calgary shorthanded goals in the opening minutes, eventually pulling away with seven different goal scorers.
The Red Deer Rebels defeated the Calgary Hitmen 8-5 on Friday night in a WHL matchup that saw Calgary jump ahead 2-0 within the first four minutes on back-to-back shorthanded goals from Carter Sanderson and Julien Maze, scored while Red Deer was on a power play following a major penalty to Hitmen forward Charlie Kresl for boarding.
Red Deer clawed back before the first period ended, with forward Patrick Sopiarz scoring on the power play with 0.4 seconds left. Sopiarz added a second goal less than two minutes into the second period off a cross-ice feed from defenceman Matus Lisy, tying the game. Forward Grayden Peterson then scored his first career WHL goal to give the Rebels their first lead.
Calgary tied it 3-3 at the midway point on another goal from Sanderson, but Red Deer answered with back-to-back goals from Owen Dewitt and Lisy to take a 5-3 lead. In the third period, defencemen Jake Missura and Jiri Kamas extended the advantage as the Rebels pulled away for the 8-5 win.
Seven different Rebels players scored, with Kamas finishing with four points, Poul Andersen with three, and Lisy with three. Sopiarz said the team's culture and resilience allowed them to overcome the rocky start against a divisional rival.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.