It's a new season for the Regina Pats, but a familiar enigma nearly reared its ugly head on Sunday night.

Regina dropped three of four games last season to the pesky Red Deer Rebels, who finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference (18-47-4-3).

It looked like deja vu all over again Sunday until rookie phenom Jordan Weal came to the rescue with the lone goal of the shootout in support of rookie goaltender Damien Ketlo, who stopped 28 of 29 shots -- plus three of three in the breakaway session -- to help Regina post a 2-1 win before 4,276 fans at the Brandt Centre.

The Pats, who were coming off a 4-2 road victory versus the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday, prevailed despite a generally flat performance against a team that was playing its third road game in three nights.

"Yes, that did bother me, but it's a funny game," offered head coach Dale Derkatch, whose team posted its third straight win after dropping four in a row to open the regular season. "Maybe our guys came in taking them a little lightly and probably had a little confidence thinking things were just going to continue from our game (Saturday) night. They don't. It's a new game, a new team."

Despite their schedule-related challenges, the Rebels still managed to outshoot and generally outwork Regina in the opening period. That trend continued into the middle frame, but Ketlo was equal to the task, keeping Regina on even terms.

A lucky break allowed the home team to open the scoring at 13:25 of the second period when Rudolf Cerveny's centering pass deflected off a Rebels defender and landed right on the stick of Matt Strueby, who banged it home for a 1-0 lead.

The Pats' luck ran out just 3:10 later courtesy of Brennen Wray's shot from the low point that beat a screened Ketlo on the power play.

Regina began to gain steam in the third period, only to have Rebels goaltender Darcy Kuemper throw his two cents into a battle of rookie backups. Kuemper weathered a late flurry, including a shot from Scott Doucet that beat him but was pulled off the goal line by one of his defenders.

The Rebels' goalie was under siege again in overtime, but he didn't relent until the shootout session. He stared down Jordan Eberle and Victor Bartley, but couldn't catch up to Weal's wrist shot. Ketlo stoned Landon Ferraro, Willie Coetzee and Wray to ice the victory.

"This was another tough one," said Rebels head coach Jesse Wallin, whose team (3-3-0-3) dropped its third in a row. "This road trip has been a tough trip for us. I thought we played extremely well. I thought we played real hard (again Sunday). I thought we did a lot of good things defensively. We've been very good to hold a team like Regina to 24 shots. It's hard to ask much more of the boys.''

Those sentiments also applied to Ketlo.

"He was fantastic," said Derkatch. "It was a difficult situation. He hadn't played (since the pre-season). He looked confident and did the job. Hats off to him."

The Pats were outshot 29-24 overall and went 0-for-5 on the power play. Despite the manner in which they won, captain Victor Bartley didn't think his team got away with one.

"I wouldn't say that one bit," he noted. "They're a very hard-working team -- they play as a team -- but we have a lot of experienced guys in here. It was pretty frustrating knowing they were at the end of a three-in-three. We knew we had to press. We didn't press the first two (periods), but we stayed positive. I thought we dominated most of the third period."

On Saturday night, the Pats turned the tables on Brandon with three third-period goals en route to a 4-2 come-from-behind victory. It was a complete role reversal from the opening weekend of the regular season, when Brandon defeated the Pats twice on third-period comebacks.

Bartley's second goal of the night with 3:57 left in the third period stood up as the game-winner. Strueby added an empty-netter with three seconds remaining. Michael MacAngus had Regina's other goal while Eberle added two assists. Weal also picked up a helper.

Mark Stone and Andrew Clark scored for the Wheat Kings (3-3-0-0), who took a 2-1 lead into the first and second intermissions. Pats goalie Linden Rowat made 27 saves. Andrew Hayes stopped 21 in a losing cause.

The Pats continue a three-game homestand on Wednesday against the Kootenay Ice.

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