The Red Deer Rebels Jhett Larson earned himself a hat trick against the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Friday. (Red Deer Rebels/Taylor Lachance)

By Alessia Proietti

First home game of 2024

Rebels defeat Tigers for the first time this season on Friday

Jan 5, 2024 | 10:35 PM

In their first home game of 2024, the Red Deer Rebels beat the Medicine Hat Tigers for the first time this season on Friday in a 5-3 win at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

In the first period, while the Tigers’ Tomas Mrsic sat in the box for tripping, the Rebels’ Jhett Larson capitalized on the power play with a rebound as he faced the crease of Medicine Hat goaltender Evan May. His seventh goal of the season at 5:29, assisted by Hunter Mayo and Ollie Josephson, put the home team in a 1-0 lead.

Mid-way through the frame, Medicine Hat’s Oasiz Wiesblatt tied the game 1-1 with a goal on Rebels netminder Rhett Stoesser.

But at 15:12, as he was being hooked on the play, Red Deer’s Carson Birnie managed to score his sixth goal of the season through the five-hole. With Talon Brigley and Kai Uchacz getting the apples, the team reclaimed their lead 2-1.

Within the final two minutes of regulation, Red Deer’s Matthew Gard and Birnie were given penalties for delaying the game and tripping, respectively, leaving the team at a two-man disadvantage to start the second period.

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After 20 minutes of play, the Tigers were outshooting the Rebels 12-10.

Medicine Hat’s Gavin McKenna quickly seized their power play opportunity just 15 seconds into the middle frame, tying the game once again 2-2.

At the six-minute mark, Red Deer’s Larson picked up a loose puck to score his eighth goal this season and second of the night. With the help of Frantisek Formanek, the Rebels were once again in the lead 3-2.

However, at 16:24, the Tigers’ Kadon McCann evened the game 3-3.

In the second period, the Rebels outshot the Tigers 15-10.

The Rebels dominated in the final period as Larson earned himself a hat trick for the evening, the second in his career. Stopping at the top of the circle, he scored his ninth goal of the season at 13:31 with a wrist shot, assisted again by Formanek. Red Deer was leading 4-3.

And at 17:58, Red Deer’s Birnie scored his second goal of the night and seventh this season with a one-timer in front of the net. With the help of Brigley and Josephson, the Rebels brought home the win at 5-3.

Although the Tigers attempted to catch up by pulling out goaltender May in the final two minutes, the Rebels remained undefeated.

The Rebels outshot the Tigers once again in the third period 5-3.

Shots on goal

RD: 30

MH: 25

Power play

RD: 1/1

MH: 1/3

Three stars

1^st: Jhett Larson (RD) – 3G

2^nd: Gavin McKenna (MH) – 1G

3^rd: Carson Birnie (RD) – 2G

Rebels Head Coach Derrick Walser said although the team came out slow in the beginning, they played strong in the second and third period, especially in their forecheck.

“One of the challenges is: we got to find our will. We got to be desperate tonight; we don’t want to lose four in a row to these guys. We got to get the monkey off our back,” he said.

Walser said the team made big mistakes at Wednesday night’s overtime game in Medicine Hat that cost them the win. He said tonight’s game reminded him of the Rebels’ overtime win against Swift Current on Saturday.

“Tonight, we had that feeling that we weren’t going to let this one slip tonight and that’s sort of the same way we were in Swift Current; you had that feeling on the bench that we were going to get the next goal. The guys grinded it out and that’s the way we’ve been all year. You just don’t quit and good for them,” he said.

Regarding Larson’s hat trick, Walser said he was due.

“You keep telling him, ‘You got to do things right all the time’. It’s not going to happen overnight. You have to keep working, going to the pain, shooting the puck when you have opportunities and grinding and eventually, you’ll get rewarded. Tonight, he was rewarded,” he said, giving particular mention to his final goal that went through a defenseman’s legs.

Larson said not only did things go his way at tonight’s game, but it was even more gratifying that their win was against the Tigers.

“It was good for the boys to be positive. After playing them so many times, you just hate them and you just want to beat them so bad,” he said.

The Rebels remain in second place in the Central Division with a record of 19-13-1-4 while the Tigers remain in first place with 23-12-2-0.

The Rebels will play four more games on home ice at the Peavey Mart Centrium, with their next match against the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND radio at 6:30 p.m.