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By Scott Roblin

Losing Streak Over

Tigers 16-game slide finally ends in comeback win over Rebels

Dec 11, 2021 | 11:03 PM

RED DEER, AB – They’re words Medicine Hat Tigers fans have waited six weeks to hear.

The streak is over.

After 16 consecutive games without a victory, the Tigers finally skated away with two points for the first time since October 22 on Saturday night in Red Deer.

Ashton Ferster scored with less than a minute and a half left in regulation to keep the Tigers alive, before Lukas Svejkovsky scored the shootout winner to help Medicine Hat finally get back into the win column with a 4-3 victory.

Medicine Hat’s longest losing streak in a generation was snapped with Rebels forward Liam Keeler missing on Red Deer’s final shootout attempt, sending the Tigers flying over the boards to celebrate.

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Just over five minutes into Saturday’s contest, Oren Shtrom was able to open the scoring receiving a cross-ice feed from Oasiz Wiesblatt on the power play.

That 1-0 lead carried over into the second period, however it was the Rebels answering back.

Rebels defender Jace Weir threw a harmless looking shot from the blue line towards the Tigers net front, which fooled Garin Bjorklund on the blocker side to tie up the game.

Not long after, Tigers blueliner Luke Rybinski was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for colliding knee-on-knee with Red Deer’s Jace Isley.

Medicine Hat was able to kill off the entirety of the five minute penalty kill and were handed a power play late in the second.

Fresh out of the box however was Red Deer’s Dallon Melin, who was sprung on a breakaway and scored the go-ahead goal with 1:15 remaining in the period.

Shtrom added to his breakout night with his second goal of the evening with nine minutes remaining, picking up a Wiesblatt rebound to bring the score to even at 2-2.

Just 70 seconds later however, the Rebels answered right back as Ben King threw a pass back door which was jumped on by Arshdeep Bains.

For the third straight game, the Tigers pulled their goalie for the extra skater and with 1:26 left in the third it was Ferster tipping a shot by Noah Danielson to send the game to overtime.

Following a back and forth OT period, the Tigers scored on their second shootout chance courtesy of Svejkovsky and never looked back to breathe an enormous sigh of relief.

Bjorklund kept the Tabbies in for much of the game earning his first victory since October 19 with a 32-save showing.

The Tigers will enjoy the win before their final two games before the Christmas break, kicking off a home-and-home set with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on the road next Friday.chat