Jevne nets first career hat trick in win over Rebels

By Ryan McCracken on November 28, 2018.

The Medicine Hat Tigers clawed their way back to the .500 mark on Wednesday night at the Canalta Centre.

Overage winger Ryan Jevne potted his first career hat trick and added an assist for good measure to lead the Tigers to a commanding 6-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels and push Medicine Hat’s record to 12-12-1-2 on the Western Hockey League season.

Both goaltenders were on their game early — refusing to let anything past them in a scoreless first period — but the offence caught up in the middle frame.
Jevne kicked off the scoring four minutes into the second when he walked into the Rebel end and beat Byron Fancy over the glove with a wrist shot from the top of the circle.

Red Deer answered back three minutes later when Zak Smith crashed the net and chipped a puck over Hat netminder Mads Søgaard, but Ryan Chyzowski responded in a hurry to take back the lead for Medicine Hat with his 10th goal of the year.

Rebels centre Jeff de Wit continued the ebb-and-flow trend midway through the period by jamming a loose puck in the crease through Søgaard to draw even at the end of 40 minutes, but the Tigers seized control in the third.

Sophomore blueliner Trevor Longo took back the lead for Medicine Hat two minutes into the final frame when he jumped in on the rush and finished off a give-and-go with Bryan Lockner for his third goal of the year.

The Rebels responded with some sustained pressure in the Tigers end, but Hat captain James Hamblin broke the back-and-forth swing near the halfway mark of the period by driving the net and deflecting a shot from Daniel Baker past Fancy for his 11th of the year.

Jevne scored his second of the night on a power play four minutes later then completed the hat trick with just over one minute remaining to push the game out reach and give Medicine Hat a commanding edge in the six-game season series with a 3-0-0-0 lead.

Søgaard stopped 21 shots to secure the victory. Fancy settled for the loss after allowing six goals on 47 shots — dropping Red Deer to 16-8-1-0.

The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre for the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

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