By Drew Wilson

Raiders rally for a shootout win in Red Deer

Feb 1, 2015 | 12:34 AM

What started as a frustrating night for Raider assistant captain Reid Gardiner ended in triumph as he fired the shootout winner in a wild 6-5 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer.

Gardiner rung an early shot off the goal post and ripped a close range wrister off the cross bar as the Rebels took an early 1-0 lead into the dressing room after twenty minutes.

The Raiders got some puck luck early in the second period when a Kris Schmidli pass through the crease went in off Rebel defenseman Brett Cote. The Prince Albert power play goal paced a four goal middle frame as Matteo Gennero tapped in a Craig Leverton rebound just 53-seconds after the Schmidli tally.

With the scored tied 2-2, Gardiner found the middle of the net deflecting a Jesse Lees shot from the mid-point on another Raider power play and Sean Montgomery would extend the Raider lead to 4-2 at 19:52 of the second period using Schmidli as a screen and rifling a wrister into the top corner past Rebel goalie Taz Burnan who was a perfect 5-0 since the Christmas break. The 16-year-old rookie has now scored in three consecutive games after being held off the scoresheet until Wednesday’s 6-1 win over Saskatoon as he counted the winner against the Blades.

It looked as if Gardiner put the game away at 1:33 of the third period sniping his 24th goal of the season to cap a mad scramble around the Rebel net just as the home side was coming back to full strength. Lees also picked up his third assist of the night on that play. However it took only 12-seconds for the Rebels to reply. Former Lethbridge Hurricane Riley Sheen was the benefactor of a gracious pass deflection and he would find the top corner on Raider goalie Rylan Parenteau. Red Deer’s first three goals came after deflected passes or blocked shots in front of the Raider net.

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Sheen also scored on a Rebel power play just past the 8-minute mark on a high rising wrister from the right wing circle and set up Connor Bleackley’s one time blast from the high slot that completed the three goal comeback at 13:13.

Both teams had their chances down the stretch and into overtime with Burman stopping Raider defenseman Brendan Guhle point blank as the 17-year-old cruised through the crease late in overtime.

Simon Stransky opened the shootout with a nifty forehand-backhand move that fooled Burman and with the Rebels missing on their first two attempts Gardiner sealed the win moving across the net on his forehand and lifted the winner past a fallen Burman.

Parenteau finished the night with 32 saves through regulation and overtime and another two in the shootout. Burman faced 25 of 30 Raider shots in the final two periods and overtime.

Raiders Assistant Coach Kelly Guard called the effort a complete turnaround from Friday in Calgary. He told the 900 CKBI post game audience the game was an indication they can be successful when they play with energy and passion. 

The win moves the Raiders to within 8 points of Swift Current for the final Eastern playoff spot as the Broncos lost 4-0 in Saskatoon with Melfort’s Nik Amundrud picking up his third career shutout.

The Raiders hit the road for games Tuesday in Regina and Wednesday in Moose Jaw before returning home to meet the Broncos Friday.    

All Raider game are broadcast on 900 CKBI.

dwilson@panow.com

At Twitter: RaidersVoice