The chase for the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference is coming right down to the wire, with the Red Deer Rebels holding on by the slimmest of margins after a tough 9-3 home loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night in front of 5,549 fans at the Centrium. Forward Poul Andersen tried to keep things close by netting a pair of goals for Red Deer, but Yaroslav Bryzgalov powered the Tigers with a hat trick and three goals overall as Medicine Hat poured it on. Head coach Marc Habscheid didn’t mince words afterward, pointing out that his team handed the Tigers way too many prime scoring chances. That defeat, combined with the Moose Jaw Warriors’ win over the Swift Current Broncos, leaves the Rebels sitting in eighth place with 58 points—just one ahead of the ninth-place Warriors (57 points) and one behind the seventh-place Regina Pats (59 points), who couldn’t lock up their spot after dropping a game to the Brandon Wheat Kings. With each squad down to their final regular-season game on Saturday, the Rebels’ fate is largely in their own hands: a win on the road against the Tigers would clinch it outright and get them back in the postseason after missing last year. Even if they fall short, they could still sneak in if the Warriors drop their home game to Swift Current in regulation. There are also a few tiebreaker scenarios floating around where Red Deer and Moose Jaw could end up facing off in a play-in game to settle it. It’s win-and-in pressure for the Rebels, but at least they control their destiny heading into the finale.
Jonas Woo made it a 1-0 game for the visiting Tigers at 2:22 of the first period while on the Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Andrew Basha and Markus Ruck.
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-13 for the Tigers
Montreal Canadiens 2025 third rounder Bryce Pickford made it a 2-0 game at 4:26 of the second period. The assist on the goal went to former Youngstown Phantom Kade Stengrim.
Cochrane, Alberta native Kadon McCann makes it a 3-0 game at 5:39 of the second period scoring his 21st of the season unassisted.
Kade Strengim makes it a 4-0 game at 9:03 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Dallas Stars 2024 5th rounder Niilopeka Muhonen and Victoria, BC native Riley Steen.
Poul Andersen gave the Rebels some life and got them on the board scoring his 23rd goal of the season at 9:30 of the second period. Unassisted.–Poul Andersen finally got the Rebels on the scoreboard at 9:30 of the second period. He went right to the front of the net, grabbed his own rebound, and beat Carter Casey to make it 4-1.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov makes it a 5-1 game for the Tigers at 14:41 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Jonas Woo and Kadon McCann.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov scored his second goal of the game and 12th of the season at 18:01 of the second period. The assist on the goal went to Calgary native Andrew Basha.
Poul Andersen scored to make the game 6-2 at 19:01 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Talon Brigley and Beckett Hamilton.–Andersen pots his second of the game with just 59 seconds left in the period—Rebels get a late spark to head to the locker room down 6-2.
Shots on goal in the second period were 13-12 for the Rebels
Liam Ruck made the game 7-2 at 2:41 of the third period scoring his 44th goal of the season. The assist went to his brother Markus Ruck.
Andrew Basha scored his 16th goal of the season making it an 8-2 game at 13:35 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Whitehorse, Yukon native Luke Cozens and Yaroslav Bryzgalov.
Kohen Lodge scores for the Rebels at 17:12 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Landon MacSwain and Jiri Kamas. –Kohen Lodge made it 8-3 with a nice snipe off the rush with 2:48 to play.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov got his hat trick goal to make the game 9-3 with only 2 seconds left in the game at 19:58 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Carter Cunningham and Niilopeka Muhonen.
Shots on goal in the third period were 19-2 for the Tigers. Like the Rebels never even showed up that period.
Minnesotan Carter Casey made 25 of the 28 shots he faced for the win for the Tigers. For the Rebels Matthew Kondro made 21 saves on the 27 shots he faced in the first two periods of the game. He was replaced by Peyton Shore in the third period who stopped 16 of the 19 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were the 3 20 year olds 1) Talon Brigley 2) Tyson Yaremko 3) Aleksey Chichkin
Attendance in Red Deer was 5549
Rebels next game is Saturday March 22nd in Medicine Hat against the Tigers.
