NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Red Deer Rebels captain Dawson Barteaux takes Medicine Hat Tigers captain James Hamblin hard into the boards during a Western Hockey League game at the Canalta Centre on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019.
The Medicine Hat Tigers ran into a wall named Ethan Anders on Saturday night at the Canalta Centre.
The 19-year-old Red Deer Rebels goaltender weathered a 60-minute storm to steal a 4-3 overtime victory from the clutches of the Tigers by stopping 39 shots while watching his team put up just 21 at the other end of the ice.
Rebels winger Chris Douglas ended the game 38 seconds into overtime by chipping a backhand over Tigers goaltender Mads Søgaard off the rush.
Medicine Hat seized control of the early flow, but Red Deer’s Jaxsen Wiebe drew first blood when he jumped on a loose puck in the slot and chipped it behind Søgaard for the first goal of his career.
The Tigers responded by hemming the Rebels into their own end for the rest of the period, but they were unable to get anything past Anders and took a 1-0 deficit into the break.
Trevor Longo picked the offence up for Medicine Hat early in the second period. The 17-year-old defenceman took a feed from Elijah Brown in the left circle and beat Anders over the glove to knot things up just over a minute into the frame.
Red Deer stole back the lead on a power play a few minutes later. Centre Brett Davis picked up credit for the go-ahead tally when his shot bounced off Tigers defenceman Parker Gavlas and into the net with Daniel Baker in the bin for high sticking.
The Rebels had a prime opportunity to add some insurance when Corson Hopwo and Brett Kemp were sent to the box for an overlapping 24 seconds of 5-on-3, but the Tigers killed off both infractions and Ryan Chyzowski promptly tied the game back up on a backhand breakaway goal.
Second-period penalties continued to plague the Tigers, however, and Ethan Sakowich made them pay with a late backbreaker. The Rebel blueliner beat Søgaard over the glove from the left circle with Cole Sillinger in the box to give the Rebels an edge after 40 despite trailing 28-14 in shots.
Fortunes shifted in Medicine Hat’s favour early in the third when Rebels Douglas and Zak Smith took back-to-back tripping minors — but they were unable to generate anything on the ensuing two-man advantage. Brown nearly netted an equalizer from a sharp angle, but Anders pulled the puck off the line with his paddle to keep the Rebels in front.
James Hamblin finally set things back to even with seven minutes left in regulation when he was granted a penalty shot due to a covered puck in the crease. The Hat captain beat Anders low on the glove side for his third of the year to set up overtime — but the Rebels escaped with two points thanks to Douglas’ sudden death game-winner.
Søgaard settled for the loss on 17 saves, dropping Medicine Hat to 4-2-1-0 on the season.
Red Deer improved to 4-3-0-0 with the win.
The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre Tuesday to host the Portland Winterhawks at 7 p.m.
