PHOTO COURTESY LEE LACHANCE/RED DEER REBELS
Red Deer Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro stops Medicine Hat Tigers forward Noah Davidson with a pad save in the first period of a 5-4, Rebels overtime win Friday in Red Deer.
Medicine Hat News
The Medcine Hat Tigers couldn’t complete the full comeback Friday night.
The Tigers overcame three one-goal Red Deer leads to force overtime before falling 5-4 on the road to the Rebels. Medicine Hat came into the contest, the first of a three-game in four night contest, off an 8-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos on Feb. 7.
Red Deer opened the scoring on a Tiger misplay.
Carter Casey got tripped up trying to play a puck behind his net and despite Josh Van Mulligen’s attempt to play goalie, Beckett Hamilton scored 8:58 into the game.
The Tigers controlled the pace the rest of the period, outshooting Red Deer 20-8 in the frame, before tying it up.
Noah Davidson finished off a tic-tac-toe play with the Rucks to tie the game up at 1-1 with 54 seconds left in the period. Markus Ruck fed Liam Ruck in the corner and he passed to Davidson in the slot for his 18th of the season.
The Rucks came out in the second period with a jump, scoring 31 seconds into the frame. Liam was tied up in a corner in the Red Deer end, kicking it out to Markus who unleashed a wrist shot that beat Rebels starter Matthew Kondro for his 14th.
Red Deer evened the game up late in the second.
While on a penalty kill, Andrew Basha chased down a puck for a shorthanded rush, trying to jump out of the way of Kondro before colliding with the Red Deer net minder, putting the Tigers on a five-on-three penalty kill for a third straight game.
The Rebels capitalized, tying the game up with a goal from Talon Brigley with 15 seconds left in the frame. They carried the momentum into the third, scoring on the remainder of the power play as Nate Yellowaga beat Casey 1:20 int the period.
Just 32 seconds later, Yaroslav Bryzgalov scored with a shot from the top of the circle to beat Kondro for his eighth of the season. Jonas Woo and Luke Cozens had the assists.
The back and forth continued as Red Deer grabbed a third lead on the night. Hamilton scored his second of the night, giving Red Deer a 4-3 lead with 8:03 left in the game.
The Tigers tied it up again, Davidson tipped in a shot from Andrew Basha to even the game up with 2:11 left on the clock. Medicine Hat outshot the Rebels 54-22 in regulation as the game headed to overtime.
Medicine Hat had their chances in the extra frame, looking to capitalize on the Edmonton Oil Kings and Prince Albert Raiders losing in regulation. But it was the Rebels and Poul Anderson scoring with 39 seconds let in overtime for the 5-4 win,
Kondro finished with 54 saves, Casey made 19 stops. The Tigers were 0-2 on the power play and Red Deer was 2-4.
The Tigers (36-9-4-3) host the WHL-leading Everett Silvertips at Co-0p Place on Saturday. Red Deer is in Medicine Hat on Monday for a 2 p.m. contest.
