It was one of those Friday the 13th nights at the Marchant Crane Centrium where the Medicine Hat Tigers came to haunt the Red Deer Rebels—but in the end, it was 18-year-old goaltender Matthew Kondro who turned the tables and did the haunting. The Tigers bombarded the net with 58 shots, yet Kondro stood tall with a staggering 54 saves, delivering what many are calling one of the most sensational goaltending performances ever seen in that building. On any other night, Beckett Hamilton’s four-point explosion (two goals, two assists) would have owned the headlines, but Kondro was the undisputed star, earning every bit of top honors as the Rebels escaped with a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory. Poul Andersen delivered the winner in the extra frame, while Talon Brigley and Nate Yellowaga also found the back of the net to keep Red Deer alive. The Rebels converted two of their four power-play chances and blanked the Tigers on both of theirs, despite being outshot so heavily.The win improves Red Deer to 20-28-2-2, keeping them one point ahead of Regina for eighth in the WHL Eastern Conference and just one back of Moose Jaw for seventh. Medicine Hat, now 36-9-4-3, dropped their fourth overtime loss of the season and couldn’t quite finish the comeback after erasing three one-goal deficits to force the extra period.Head coach Marc Habscheid was quick to give credit where it was due. “Sometimes your goalie’s got to play, and he played tonight and got the win,” he said afterward. “On the other side, our guys gutted it out and found a way. [Kondro’s] played okay for us this year, and sometimes during the season you’re not going to have your game—and we didn’t. We tried different lines, systems, you name it. I’ll take the blame for that. We needed our goalie to come through, and he did. ”Hamilton has been on fire lately with points in five straight (and 14 of his last 16), while Brigley (five straight), Andersen (four straight), and Yellowaga (nine of 11) are all heating up too. A crowd of 4,035 witnessed the drama, and for one night at least, the young netminder was the sheriff in town.
Beckett Hamilton makes it a 1-0 game scoring his 18th goal of the season at 11:02 of the first period with the assist going to Owen DeWitt. Tigers netminder Casey looked like he was taking a break behind the net –Midway through the opening period, the Red Deer Rebels dumped the puck deep, baiting Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Carter Casey out of his crease to chase. The puck took a fortuitous bounce off the end boards right onto the stick of Owen DeWitt, who quickly redirected it along the wall to a crashing Beckett Hamilton. The slick winger made no mistake, burying it neatly for the game’s opening tally and giving the Rebels an early lead.
Irvine, California native and Boston College commit Noah Davidson evens up the game for the Tigers at 19:06 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Osoyoos, BC natives Liam and Marcus Ruck–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.
Shots on goal in the first period were 20-8 for the Tigers
Markus Ruck notches his 14th goal of the season to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead just 31 seconds into the second period. The assists on the goal went to Liam Ruck and Noah Davidson.–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.
Talon Brigley tied the game back up for the Rebels at 19:45 of the second period while on a 2 man advantage Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Kalder Varga and Beckett Hamilton.–Late in the second period, the Rebels seized the momentum on a two-man advantage. From near the goal line, captain Talon Brigley ripped a sharp shot that deflected off a Tigers defender and past the goaltender, knotting the score at 2-2 with just seconds remaining in the frame and sending the Marchant Crane Centrium crowd into a frenzy heading into the intermission.
Shots on goal in the second period were 14-7 for the Tigers
Nate Yellowaga makes it a 3-2 Rebels game on the Power Play at 1:20 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Poul Andersen and Patrick Sopiarz.–The third opened fast as Poul Andersen fed Nate Yellowaga at the point, and he buried a powerplay snipe to give Red Deer the lead.
Belarusian Yaroslav Bryzgalov ties the game back up for the Tigers at 1:52 of the third period with the helpers on the goal going to Winnipeg, Manitoba native Jonas Woo and Whitehorse, Yukon native Luke Cozens. The later 2 have both had brothers who were stars in the WHL many moons ago.–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.
Beckett Hamilton scores his second goal of the game to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead at 11:57 of the third period. The assist on the goal went to Patrick Sopiarz.–With eight minutes to go, Hamilton struck again, taking a perfect pass from Patrick Sopiarz and sniping from the circle to put the Rebels back on top.
Noah Davidson tied the game up for the Tigers at 17:49 of the third period with the assist on the goal going to Calgary Flames 2024 2nd rounder Andrew Basha.–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.
Shots in the third period were 20-7 for the Tigers
Poul Andersen scores the winner at 4:21 of the overtime frame with the assist on the goal going to Beckett Hamilton.
Shots on goal in the overtime frame were 4-2 for the Tigers. The Tigers outshot the Rebels 58-24 in the game.
King Matthew Kondro made 54 saves on the 58 shots that he faced for the win for the Rebels. For the Tigers Carter Casey made 19 saves on the 24 shots that he faced. Ironically enough Carter Casey is from Grand Rapids. Minnesota a very small town in Northern Minnesota. The same hometown as former NHL goal Jon Casey. I looked and searched and finally found an article and asked Grok it claims there is no relation between the 2.–No, Carter Casey, the goalie for the Medicine Hat Tigers, is not related to former NHL goalie Jon Casey (also known as Jonathon James Casey), despite both hailing from the same small hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Carter Casey was born December 3, 2007, in Grand Rapids, MN, and is a current WHL prospect who has committed to the University of Minnesota. Jon Casey (born March 29, 1962, in Grand Rapids, MN) is a much older former NHL netminder who played in the 1980s–1990s for teams like the Minnesota North Stars, Boston Bruins, and St. Louis Blues.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Matthew Kondro 2) Noah Davidson 3) Beckett Hamilton
Attendance in Red Deer was 4035
Rebels next game is Sunday February 16th against the Lethbridge Hurricanes
