Hitmen fall in Red Deer

In their first game following a nine day Christmas Break, the Calgary Hitmen dropped a 3-2 decision in Red Deer against the Rebels.

Heading in, Calgary had won the three previous meetings holding the Rebels in the process to a combined 58 shots but on this night the Rebels found a new gear firing 40 shots on goal.

Cole Chorney, Rhyse Dieno and Conner Bleackley scored for Red Deer who never trailed building leads of 1-0 and 3-1. 

Elliott Peterson and Greg Chase replied for the Hitmen who saw their run of points in at least 10 games in a row (9-0-1) come to an end.

The Hitmen had thought they have opened the scoring in the first period, but after a lengthy review the goal was overturned with officials saying the puck was kicked in.

From @WHLHitmen Twitter Feed:  Pre-Game Warm-Up in RD 

Calgary Hitmen 2 at Red Deer Rebels 3
Friday, December 27, 2013 - Enmax Centrium - Red Deer, AB

Calgary 0 1 1 - 2
Red Deer 0 1 2 - 3

1st Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-Sutter R.d (hooking), 16:45; Jones Cal (tripping), 19:54.

2nd Period
1, Red Deer, Chorney 4 (Polei), 8:43.
2, Calgary, Peterson 5 (Brassart, Chase), 10:14.
Penalties-Penner Cal (hooking), 0:54; Fleury R.d (tripping), 13:25; Dixon R.d (cross checking), 15:30.

3rd Period
3, Red Deer, Bleackley 18 (Mpofu, Fleury), 5:34.
4, Red Deer, Dieno 12 (Mpofu, Fleury), 16:25.
5, Calgary, Chase 20 (Peterson, Brassart), 17:23.
Penalties-Helgesen Cal (tripping), 2:55; Fafard R.d (tripping), 10:18; Bartosak R.d (tripping), 12:28; Thomas Cal (delay of game), 17:36.

Shots on Goal
Calgary 10-12-11-33. Red Deer 13-16-11-40.
Power Play Opportunities
Calgary 0 / 5; Red Deer 0 / 4.
Goalies
Calgary, Driedger 15-7-2-3 (40 shots-37 saves). Red Deer, Bartosak 17-12-0-2 (33 shots-31 saves).
A-5,623
Referees-Ryan Benbow (62), Chris Schlenker (90).
Linesmen-Chad Huseby (59), Cody Huseby (88).