Rebels send Wheat Kings home after overtime win
Red Deer exacts some revenge with Polei’s winner in Memorial Cup
RED DEER They didn’t need it. They just wanted it. The Red Deer Rebels had already secured a spot in Friday’s Memorial Cup semifinal before overtime even started.
But they took the opportunity to send the rival Brandon Wheat Kings home when Evan Polei scored at 3:50 of sudden death to give the Rebels a 2-1 victory.
The Rebels (2-1) will take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (12) in Friday’s semifinal (6 p.m., Sportsnet West, 106.7 FM The Drive) while the Wheaties head back to Manitoba winless.
The Wheat Kings had eliminated the Rebels from the WHL playoffs a month ago and members of the Memorial Cup hosts admitted it would feel extra sweet to end Brandon’s season.
They had to work extra time, but they got the job done.
The numbers weren’t pretty for Wheaties goaltender Jordan Papirny coming into the round robin finale.
The goals-against average (7.28) looked more like the price of a pint of suds. The save percentage (.782) more closely resembled a winning percentage of an elite team.
But he nearly extended his team’s season, booting out 30 pucks in the heartbreaking loss.
Tim McGauley gave the Wheaties a 1-0 lead in the second period and it looked as if that might stand up as the winner until Adam Musil tied the game at 1-1 late in regulation time.
Papirny was a victim of a small sample size against high-scoring teams ... and shameful defensive play in front of him through two games.
Following his club’s 9-1 beat down at the hands of the London Knights, Wheat Kings GM Kelly McCrimmon called Papirny “the least of our problems.”
He was right about that. Papirny stood tall but was matched save-for-save at the other end by Rylan Toth.
The Wheat Kings played without leading scorer Jayce Hawryluk, who scored 47 goals and 106 points during the regular season and added a league-high 30 points in the playoffs.
The Florida Panthers prospect sat out with an upper-body ailment.
The WHL rivals — hooking up for the 10th time this season — had no need for any kind of feeling-out process but nonetheless played a tentative, scoreless opening frame.
Papirny made the biggest stop of the period, turning aside Grayson Pawlenchuk’s breakaway attempt with the blocker.
The Edmonton product stared down another breakaway early in the second period, denying Jeff de Wit.
McGauley, whose 2015-16 campaign was partially ruined by a shoulder injury suffered in the season-opener, picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the Memorial Cup.
The Washington Capitals prospect picked up a puck low in the zone and ripped it top corner to give the Wheaties a 1-0 lead near the midway point of the game.
Papirny ensured his team took the lead to the dressing room by flashing the leather to deny Conner Bleackley from pointblank range.
Musil has evolved into a Joel Ward-type player for the Rebels. If you need a big goal, he’ll deliver.
The St. Louis Blues prospect, who scored the Game 7 winner against the Regina Pats in the second round of the WHL playoffs, finally found the back of the net on the Rebels’ 28th shot of the evening when he chiselled in a puck from the hash marks with 5:05 remaining in regulation time.
The Wheat Kings owned a 33-29 advantage on the shot clock after three periods before their season came to an end in overtime.