Oil Kings fall short against Rebels.
The Red Deer Rebels were late to the rink Thursday, but the Edmonton Oil Kings were late to the game.
The Rebels’ bus got to Rexall Place only 90 minutes before the opening faceoff because of an accident on Anthony Henday Drive, but it didn’t faze them any.
“Yeah, we were late to the party,” sighed Edmonton Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal after his red-hot Western Hockey League club gave up three goals in the first 5-1/2 minutes and couldn’t dig its way out of the crater, tumbling 5-3 to the visiting Red Deer Rebels.
“We weren’t sharp from the get-go, we were standing around ... maybe our guys thought it would be an easy night, although I don’t know why because Red Deer is right behind us in the standings (51-47) and they’ve been on a tear. Give Red Deer credit. They’re a hard-working club,” said Laxdal.
While the Rebels’ short haul turned into a 2-1/2-hour bus ride, it was no accident that the surging Rebels (12 wins, two losses and a third in a shootout since general manager Brent Sutter took over from Jesse Wallin behind the bench) battered the Oil Kings early with goals by Wyatt Johnson, captain Turner Elson and defenceman Matt Dumba as Red Deer outshot Edmonton 11-1 before a restless crowd of 9,297.
“I’ve seen this about five times with the Rebels since Sutter became coach ... they really go after you,” said Oilers amateur scout Jim Crossin.
Dumba added a second goal late in the third period and Brooks Maxwell had the other one on Tristan Jarry, the first time this season he’s given up more than three goals.
The first goal (Johnson, sliding around Aaron Irving and beating the goalie short side) and the last one (Dumba’s last slapper with no real traffic for his second power-play score) were ones Jarry should have had. The Oil Kings, from goal out, weren’t sharp.
They did pour 56 shots at Red Deer goalie Bolton Pouliot, who made half-a-dozen circus stops, but the shot clock isn’t the thing that counts.
T.J. Foster, Michael St. Croix and Travis Ewanyk, playing his first game in six weeks because of a sprained knee, were the only Oil Kings to beat the Red Deer backup on a night when their special teams, the best in the league, were off-kilter.
Edmonton had killed 29 penalties in a row over six games until Dumba’s power-play goals, and had surrendered only 13 power-play goals in 166 tries, a 92.2-per-cent success rate. But they looked awfully mortal on Friday night.
The Oil Kings’ power play, which has been their lifeblood through the first half of the WHL season (29.6 per cent, 42 goals), went 0-for-six.
Add it up, and the Oil Kings five-game winning streak is toast with a rematch with the Rebels on Friday at Red Deer.
“There’s no explanation, we didn’t come ready to play,” said Oil Kings defenceman Keegan Lowe.
Jarry got the hook for Laurent Brossoit for one shift after Elson banged in a rebound to make it 2-0, then was back in the rest of the way. He faced 39 shots.
“I wanted to give our team a bit of a kick-start, but I also didn’t want to burn our time-out,” said Laxdal, who saw Brossoit rob Johnson with a glove stop just after he entered the fray.
“I thought Tristan should have had the first one. He pulled off the post pretty early,” said Laxdal.
As it turned out, Laxdal had to call time after Dumba’s ripper made it 3-0 with Ewanyk in the box for roughing.
“You don’t really have to say much. We’re down 3-0 so early in the game and we’re not playing well, at all,” said Lowe. “We had to turn it around, and we did, but...”
But the Rebels aren’t a WHL bottom-feeder. They weren’t giving up a three-goal spot.