Rebels subdue T-Birds, 6-3

The Red Deer Rebels defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 Friday night at the ShoWare Center.

The Rebels (29-21-4-2) got out to a 1-0 lead 3:56 into the first period when Rhyse Dieno scored from the slot. Dominik Volek and Mathew Dumba had the assists.

Red Deer extended their lead to 2-0 at the 7:50 mark when Dumba fired a hard slapshot past Brandon Glover into the top corner. Turner Elson and Volek had the assists off the faceoff.

Seattle (19-32-4-1) cut the lead to 2-1 on the power play. Seth Swenson got the puck along the left boards and dropped it for Jerret Smith. Smith slid a pass over to Riley Sheen who one-timed the bouncing puck past Patrik Bartosak for his 10th goal of the year, coming at 10:38 of the period.

The Rebels took the 2-1 lead into the intermission, with the T-Birds leading in shots 18-15.

The Thunderbirds tied the game 2-2 with their second power-play goal, coming with a two-man advantage, at 3:44 of the second period. Connor Honey moved the puck to Shea Theodore at the right point who shot towards the Red Deer net. The puck deflected towards Roberts Lipsbergs who dove and knocked the puck in for his 20th goal of the year.

The Rebels scored with two seconds left on their own power-play midway through the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Tyson Ness got the goal on assists from Joel Hamilton and Matt Bellerive.

Red Deer scored again to retake a two-goal lead at the 19:32 mark of the second period. Dieno scored his second of the night on an unassisted effort, giving the Rebels a 4-2 lead going into the third period.

Shots in the second period were 17-15 Seattle, with the two-period total 35-30 T-Birds.

The Rebels scored 1:44 into the third period to make it 5-2 when Brooks Maxwell scored on Gaudet’s redounded shot from the glass.

The T-Birds got a goal back, their third power-play goal of the night, to make it 5-3. Honey moved the puck up top to Theodore whose hard shot from the point was deflected past Bartosak by Andrew Johnson for his ninth goal of the season. The goal came at 12:51.

With Glover pulled, Dieno capped off his hat trick at 19:25 to take the final tally to 6-3 Red Deer.

The final shot tally was 50-40 in favor of the Thunderbirds.

Seattle goalie Brandon Glover stopped 35 of 40 shots he faced, and now has an overall record of 18-24-4-1.

Bartosak stopped 47 of 50 shots and improved his record to 23-11-4-0 on the year.

The T-Birds take on the Calgary Hitmen T 7:05 tonight at the ShoWare Center.

T-Birds tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Red Deer, Dieno 18 (Volek, Dumba), 3:56. 2, Red Deer, Dumba 12 (Elson, Volek), 7:50. 3, Seattle, Sheen 10 (Smith, Swenson), 10:38 (pp). Penalties – Forsberg, Sea (holding), 1:46. Gaudet, Red (hooking), 6:03. Delnov, Sea (tripping), 6:59. Bellerive, Red (interference), 9:45. Johnson, Sea (roughing), 11:04. Fafard, Red (roughing), 11:04.

Second period – 4, Seattle, Lipsbergs 20 (Theodore, Honey), 3:44 (pp). 5, Red Deer, Ness 13 (Hamilton, Bellerive), 9:47 (pp). 6, Red Deer, Dieno 19 (unassisted), 19:32. Penalties – Fafard, Red (interference), 1:44. Gaudet, Red (delay of game), 2:27. Foulk, Sea (hooking), 7:49. Thiel, Red (roughing), 12:22. Holub, Sea (interference), 15:40.

Third period – 7, Red Deer, Maxwell 6 (Gaudet), 1:44. 8, Seattle, Johnson 9 (Theodore, Honey), 12:51 (pp). 9, Red Deer, Dieno 20 (unassisted), 19:25 (en). Penalties – Holub, Sea (interference), 2:41. Hamilton, Red (tripping), 4:48. Volek, Red (hooking), 12:46.

Shots on goal – Seattle 18-17-15 50, Red Deer 15-15-10 40. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 40 shots-35 saves (18-24-4-1); Red Deer, Bartosak 50-47 (23-11-4-0). Power plays – Seattle 3-7; Red Deer 1-5. A – 3,017. Referees – Ryan Benbow, Brett Iverson. Linesmen – Ron Dietterle, Chris Sweeting.