Rebels 5 Raiders 4 (OT)

PRINCE ALBERT — Maybe it was something he said.

With the Red Deer Rebels trailing 4-1 after two periods of their Western Hockey League contest with the Prince Albert Raiders Friday, GM/head coach Brent Sutter had a few choice words for his troops.

The Rebels took the sermon to heart, scoring three unanswered third-period goals and getting an overtime marker from Justin Mapletoft for a 5-4 victory before 2,359 fans at the Comuniplex.

"The guys got their butts kicked a bit, then came out and played the way they can in the third period," said Sutter. "Once they started using their speed it was no contest."

Sutter, a stickler for sweat, wasn't impressed with his club's work ethic during the first two periods.

"It's one thing to have speed and skill, but if you're not going to work hard it's not worth crap," he said. "I give the kids credit for battling back and getting the win."

Mapletoft and Jeff Smith each scored twice for the Rebels, while Justin Wallin tallied once. Anton Borodkin potted two goals for the Raiders, who got singles from Garrett Prosofsky and Chris Harper.

Rebels captain Jim Vandermeer collected three assists and was named first star of the game.

"Vandermeer was very good tonight and (goaltender Shane) Bendera made the saves when he had to," said Sutter. "He couldn't be faulted for any of the goals."

Bendera finished with 26 saves, while Grant McCune stopped 36 shots in the Prince Albert net.

The victory improved the Rebels' record to 8-1, keeping them three points back of the front-running Kootenay Ice in the Central Division and eight points up on third-place Calgary.

The game also marked the end of a successful East Division road trip. The Rebels finished 4-1 on the eight-day jaunt, their lone loss coming in Moose Jaw.

"It's not like we had an easy trip," said Sutter. "We started in Swift Current, then it was up to Saskatoon, over to Brandon, back to Moose Jaw and then up to Prince Albert. We put on a lot of miles and it was a good learning experience for the guys.

"We have to be happy with the trip. The kids have to realize that if we use our speed and play like we can, that we’re a very good team and we can beat anybody on any given night."

Wallin and Mapletoft were named second and third stars, respectively.

The Rebels, ranked fourth among CHL teams, returned home early this morning. They’ll be back on the ice Monday to prepare for next Friday’s date with the visiting Ice.