Tigers fall 4-3 in shootout thriller Friday in Red Deer

By James Tubb on November 21, 2025.

Medicine Hat News

A back and forth affair Friday night in Red Deer ended on the side of the Rebels.

The Medicine Hat Tigers scored two quick goals in the first and played comeback the rest of the way, ultimately falling 4-3 in the shootout.

They came into the contest off a 6-2 win Wednesday at Calgary over the Hitmen. The Tigers opened the scoring with a pair of goals in 42 seconds of play.

Defenceman Bryce Pickford kicked things off with a shot from the point, scoring his 12th of the season for the 1-0 lead 7:49 into the game. Carter Cunningham and Misha Volotovskii had the assists on his team-leading tally. They grabbed a 2-0 lead 42 seconds later when Dayton Reschny jammed home a loose puck underneath Red Deer starter Matthew Kondro. Cam Parr and Ethan Neutens had the assists on Reschny’s fifth of the year.

The two-goal lead did not last long as the Rebels got on the board less than two minutes later.

Sprung on a rush, forward Nate Yellowaga skated in and scored on starter Jordan Switzer for his first WHL goal and the 2-1 score at 10:22. Jaxon Fuder and Samuel Drancak had the helpers. Just 24 seconds later, Samuel Drancak scored on a wraparound, beating Switzer five holes or the 2-2 tie. Fuder had the lone assist on Drancak’s 10th of the season.

The Tigers led the game in shots after 20 minutes, 12-7.

Before the clock hit the 10-minute mark in the middle frame, the Rebels grabbed a lead on an unfortunate bounce for the Tigers. Red Deer had a power play and was pushing pressure in the Tigers’ end when a puck squirted out to the slot. Forward Misha Volotovskii swung at the loose puck, catching it on the wrong end, sending it through Switzer for a 3-2 Rebels’ lead at 9:05.

The Tigers made good on the misfortune 95 seconds later. Veeti Väisänen threw a puck towards the net that Kadon McCann tipped past Kondro for his seventh of the season and third in the last two games.

Medicine Hat appeared to grab a 4-3 lead with 3:40 left in the period when Gavin Kor jammed home a puck sitting behind Kondro on his own shot. The play was blown down as he swiped at the puck, creating a scrum that put the play at four-on-four. The second period ended on another stretch of four-on-four play that continued into the third period.

Neither side scored in the third period despite a Grade A opportunity for the Rebels who had 21 seconds of a five-on-three power play late in the frame. The Tigers killed off both penalties and preserved the tie, sending the game to overtime.

Red Deer held the puck for the majority of the extra frame, both sides recording a shot, but the Rebels leading in chances. They made good in the shootout with both Drancak and Beckett Hamilton scoring on Switzer. Yaroslav Bryzgalov and Pickford were both turned aside.

Kondro finished with 32 saves for the win in the Red Deer net. Switzer stopped 27 shots in the loss as the Tigers outshot Red Deer 35-31. Red Deer won the face-off battle 36-29 and was 1-3 on the power play, the lone goal coming off a Tigers’ stick. Medicine Hat was 0-1 with the man advantage.

The Tigers (12-6-3-2) host the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday in the second of a three-in-three contest. Saturday’s game is the Tigers fight cancer night, with custom game-used lavender sticks to be auctioned off. A link to the auction site can be found on the Tigers’ website.

They’ll head to Calgary on Sunday for a 4 pm. contest to finish the weekend.

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