Tigers Shut out Rebels 8-0
Published on December 31, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release
Medicine Hat - The Tigers took on the Rebels for the second time in three days. This time in the Marchant Crane Centrium for their third matchup of the year.
There has been no love lost as of late between the two central division teams as they both made it clear early that Tuesday's game would be physical. With scrums after most whistles to start the game and big checks from both sides, the tone was set early.
Medicine Hat put up a staggering 15 shots on goal in the first period with their offence firing on all cylinders. Most of their chances, especially early in the period, were high-danger chances from in tight that put Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro to work.
Kondro's play kept the Tigers at bay for most of the first frame. Liam Ruck managed to break the scoreless tie at 15:04 with a short handed goal. Markus Ruck started the play with a blocked shot in his own end, then followed it up with a deke in the other end and a pass to his brother to get the Tigers on the board.
Markus went right back to work less than a minute later as he scored his eighth of the season at 16:00. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll picked up a Rebels turnover to feed Ruck who fired a wrist shot from the left side to make it 2-0 Tigers.
Red Deer came out strong in the first five minutes of the second period, generating some much needed offence and putting shots on goal. The Tigers responded to this offensive push by the Rebels with four goals in the second period.
The first came on the power play after Liam Ruck fed Jonas Woo for a cross-ice one-timer at 13:33 to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Noah Davidson followed up Woo's power play tally with an amazing solo effort to pot his 10th of the season. Davidson danced around defenders up and down the right side of the zone before driving the net with a wide open lane and scoring the 4-0 goal at 14:40.
The goals kept coming as Kadon McCann tapped in a pass from Liam Ruck on the half wall for a power play goal at 17:36 to make it 5-0 Tigers.
The Tigers had no trouble entering the Rebels zone all night and Kade Stengrim's goal to make it 6-0 nothing was a perfect example of that. Stengrim entered the zone and passed to Gavin Kor at the blue line who sent a shot on net. Stengrim slipped to the front of the net easily and picked up Kor's rebound on the backhand for his seventh tally of the year.
The Tabbies went into the third period after a stellar offensive showing in the second period. Medicine Hat held a 6-0 lead and was outshooting their opponent 27-17 after two periods.
Both teams began to show their frustrations with one another after playing each other in back-to-back matchups, both ending in the Tigers favour. Red Deer continued to show their frustration, leading to a swarm of penalties in the third period.
The Tigers decided to find the back of the net two more times in the third period to add to their 6-0 lead. Misha Volotovskii scored the second short handed goal of the game for the Tigers off of a beautiful saucer pass from Carter Cunningham at 10:26.
Liam Ruck capped off his four point night with his eighteenth goal of the year with under a minute left in the game at 19:01. Volotovskii and Yaroslav Bryzgalov connected with Ruck on the power play goal for the assists.
Jordan Switzer stopped all 23 shots he saw on Tuesday night for his fifth career shutout and the Tigers extended their win streak to 13 games.
Special Teams:
PP: 3/5 - 60.0%
PK: 5/5 - 100.0%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
Markus Ruck (1G, 3A) - Medicine Hat
Liam Ruck (2G, 2A) - Medicine Hat
Jordan Switzer (SO, 23SH, 23SV) - Medicine Hat
Supplement King Hardest Worker:
Jordan Switzer
The Tigers are back in action on Friday, January 2nd in Co-op Place to take on the Moose Jaw Warriors for their first match of 2026.
Western Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2025
- Wenatchee Ends 2025 with 4-2 Home Win over Seattle Wednesday - Wenatchee Wild
- Americans end 2025 on six-game winning streak with 3-2 victory over Spokane - Tri-City Americans
- Chiefs Fire 50 Shots, Come up Short in Tri-City - Spokane Chiefs
- Power Play Propels Hawks Past Silvertips on New Year's Eve - Portland Winterhawks
- Warriors Battle Back in New Years Eve OT Thriller - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Pats Fall 5-4 in Overtime to Warriors Despite Three-Goal Response - Regina Pats
- Broncos Waive Goaltender Joey Rocha - Swift Current Broncos
- Winterhawks Announce Three Roster Moves - Portland Winterhawks
- Nine WHL Alumni Highlight Canada's Men's Hockey Team for 2026 Olympic Winter Games - WHL
- 21 CHL Alumni Headline Canada's Men's Hockey Team for Milano Cortina 2026 - WHL
- Chiefs Visit Ams for Annual New Year's Eve Game Wednesday - Spokane Chiefs
- Pats Forward Brown Commits to Lindenwood University for 2026-27 - Regina Pats
- Warriors Looking to End 2025 with a Win - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Game Day Hub: December 31 vs Everett - Portland Winterhawks
- Preview: Americans vs Chiefs - December 31, 2025 - Tri-City Americans
- Cougars' Third-Period Lead Slips Away in Kamloops - Prince George Cougars
- Hitmen Top Giants 4-1 - Vancouver Giants
- Oil Kings Dominate Hurricanes in 2025 Finale - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Broncos Show Strong Effort in 4-0 Loss to Wheat Kings - Swift Current Broncos
- Vees Grind out Victory over Royals - Penticton Vees
- Tigers Shut out Rebels 8-0 - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Kraus Leads Wheat Kings to Second Straight Shutout in Swift Current - Brandon Wheat Kings
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