It had to happen sometime, but it's too bad it had to be against the Ice.

The Red Deer Rebels broke their franchise record 13-game losing slide last night, defeating the Kootenay squad 4-2 to earn their first win in a month.

"It's just amazing-a huge stress off our back and the last couple games, they've been so close," said Rebels defenceman Mathew Dumba, who returned to his team after Hockey Canada released him from the World Junior selection camp along with Ice forward Max Reinhart on Tuesday morning.

It was a game that should've favoured the Ice, as their prairie opponents were short a few key players like defenceman Alex Petrovic, who survived the first round of cuts at the World Junior and goaltender Patrik Bartosak was also absent, out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

Hence, the game featured the debut of Deven Dubyk, who was brought in from the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, to fill the gap left by Red Deer's star Czech goaltender.

Dubyk had played 16 games with the Broncos this season, accumulating a 2.40 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage. He also played in 20 games in the WHL for the Medicine Hat Tigers last season.

It was the kind of start he, and the Rebels, were looking for, as the 20-year-old netminder turned away 31 of 33 shots that the Ice put in his direction.

"He did great for us tonight, it's his first win and we'll look for many more," said Dumba.

Dubyk got up some confidence early in the first period, robbing Ice forward Elgin Pearce with a glove save that looked like a sure goal.

Kootenay's Brock Montgomery was able to beat him, but not the iron, as he rang a shot off the post a few minutes afterwards.

However, it was the Rebels that got the early lead, as a nifty little passing play in the slot resulted in a goal by Colten Mayor.

The Ice tied up in the dying minute of the frame, when Joey Leach took a shot from the point that beat Dubyk, who was screened by Max Reinhart.

"We worked hard to get pucks on net and test this goalie; it was his first game with them tonight," said Leach, in a post-game interview. "I thought we had a few good chances, [we] just couldn't catch anything."

Rebels forward Brooks Maxwell took a high-sticking penalty early in the second and the Ice went on the powerplay, with Pearce blasting a slap shot into the net after Jesse Ismond fed him a cross-ice pass.

Thirty seconds later, the Rebels bench erupted again, when Turner Elson scored his 13th of the season, beating Nathan Lieuwen on a long slap shot off a drop pass from Joel Hamilton.

Red Deer took the lead late in the period, when Mayor got his second of the night during a scramble in front of Lieuwen.

Tyson Ness notched the insurance marker late in the third, capitalizing on a rebound that ricocheted off the back wall from a point shot.

The effort put forward from the Kootenay side was unusually flat, and the Rebels' losing slide only added fuel to their desire to win.

The frustration from the Ice's side was palpable in the final minute, as Max Reinhart slammed his stick into the boards in disgust after taking a hooking penalty, while Luke Paulsen got whistled down for a slash that broke a Rebel twig in half.

"We got outworked tonight in our zone and in their zone-we weren't winning battles. We were getting beat off of pucks and it's not acceptable," said Leach.

Lieuwen made 26 saves, while his team outshot the Rebels in the second and third periods, but Dubyk played a solid game in between the pipes.

Dumba credits the win to his team's discipline; the Rebels didn't take one minor penalty in the second half of the game, while Kootenay was called for five infractions.

While the Rebels never scored on the man-advantage, the powerplays in the latter half of the game allowed the team to take control and set the pace.

It's the third loss in a row on home ice for the Kootenay squad, and the fifth loss in their last six games.

The Ice still have a hold on second place in the Central division, while Red Deer, currently in fifth place, will have their work cut out for them to climb out the points deficit from the previous 13 losses.

Next home action for the Ice will be against the Swift Current Broncos on Friday.