NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Carter Casey knocks a puck out of mid-air in the second period of WHL action Sunday at Co-op Place against the Red Deer Rebels. Casey finished with 18 saves in a 7-4 Tigers win, their 12th straight.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
It wasn’t a bird or a plane soaring at Co-op Place on Sunday, it was the Medicine Hat Tigers continue to roll.
The Tigers scored five times in the second period to beat the Rebels 7-4 on superhero night, recording a 12th straight win. They came into the contest off a 5-1 win in Lethrbdige on Saturday over the Hurricanes, their first game back from the holiday break.
Head coach Willie Desjardins liked how his team handled the tough game and their first two looks back from the holidays.
“Red Deer had a good team, they play hard and they’ve come a long way from the start of the year. That was a tough game, they played hard,” Desjardins said.
“I thought we were good, last night’s first period and tonight’s first period we were good. They have an experienced team, they have a good group, so it was a tough game for us.”
Forward Yaroslav Bryzgalov had a goal and four points in the win, his second four-point effort of the season.
“It’s always good when you score, but I’m appreciate my line, my ice time, thanks for my head coach and coaching staff for giving me this time,” Bryzgalov said. ” Just like to fine my game and then just going.”
After sustained pressure in the Red Deer end, the Tigers opened the scoring on an early power play.
Liam Ruck had the puck up at the point and he passed off to defenceman Jonas Woo before spinning into the slot with his stick in the air for the one-timer. Woo dished back to the Osoyoos, B.C. product who hammered home the puck for the 1-0 lead 4:39 into the game. Markus Ruck had the second assist on Liam’s 16th of the season.
The goal extended point streaks for all three, giving Markus points in 12 straight, Woo points in 10 straight and Liam an eight-game point streak.
Red Deer tied the game up six minutes later.
Rebels forward Patrick Sopiarz carried the puck into the Tigers’ end and fired a shot on starter Carter Casey who had his glove over the puck. Landon MacSwain swooped in and jammed it home to make it a 1-1 game at 10:54.
The Tigers outshot Red Deer 13-6 in the frame before the Rebels grabbed a brief lead early in the second.
Talon Brigley carried the puck towards the net, getting hooked for a delayed call before scoring over Casey for the 2-1 advantage 3:33 into the middle frame.
The Tigers responded with a trio of goals in a span of 4:01 for the 4-2 lead.
Bryce Pickford hammered home a one-timer on a power play, his 27th goal of the season. Liam Ruck and Kadon McCann had the assists on the equalizer 3:36 after Red Deer’s goal. Pickford’s goal keeps him in the lead for WHL scoring and first among CHL defencemen, also extending his point streak to 10 games.
Gavin Kor knocked in a rebound off a Kade Stengrim shot for the 3-2 lead, Kyle Heger had the second assist on his third of the year. The third goal, coming on a delayed power play, came from Carter Cunningham who scored on a rebound. Josh Van Mulligen and Bryzgalov had the assists on his sixth.
Red Deer drew within on a goal from Matej Mikes, scoring from the high slot on a light shot, to make it a 4-3 game at 13:15.
The Tigers answered back, scoring a pair to lead 6-3 through 4o minutes.
Van Mulligen threw a shot on net from the point, beating Shore to make it a 5-3 lead. Bryzgalov and Misha Volotovskii had the assists on his third of the year.
With 1:58 left in the frame, Ethen Neutens scored from the bottom of the circles, scoring his seventh of the year on the sharp angle. Bryzgalov and Volotovskii had the assists as Neutens tallied goals in three straight games.
Sunday’s win came with 5,001 in attendance, their largest crowd of the season.
“That crowd changes the game,” Van Mulligen said. “We feed off them and we’re looking forward to this second half, and hopefully it just keeps on getting rowdy.”
The Tigers struck first in the third with Bryzgalov capitalizing on a failed clear. The 18-year-old forward picked up the puck in the slot, deked his way around Shore and scored his his seventh of the season, giving the Tigers a 7-3 lead 5:36 into the frame.
Red Deer struck last, scoring on a late power play. Poul Anderson spun a backhand in the slot past Casey with 1:56 on the clock, making it a 7-4 final.
Van Mulligen and Liam Ruck finished with a goal and an assist, Volotovskii had two assists.
Medicine Hat outshot the Rebels 31-22 in the win, winning 38 face-offs to the Rebels 21. The Tigers special teams finished 2-2 on the power play, holding Red Deer to one goal on six power plays.
Casey finished with 18 saves in the win, his ninth of the year. Across the ice, Shore finished with 24 saves.
Medicine Hat donned super hero jerseys and capes during warmups as part of Remax Canada’s ‘Be a Superhero night,’ to raise funds for Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. The jerseys are being auctioned off with all proceeds going to the foundation. The auction is live until Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. MST and can be found at the link here.
The Tigers (24-6-3-2) carry the 12-game win streak into Tuesday when they head to Red Deer for the final game of the 2025 calendar.
