McKenna leads Tigers to 7-3 win over Rebels
The Red Deer Rebels fell victim to a career best performance by Gavin McKenna.
The second year phenom collected three goals and four assists to lead his Medicine Hat Tigers to a 7-3 win over the Rebels Saturday night at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.
The 8-game season series between the two Central Division rivals finished with each side winning four times.
STATS STORY
Gavin McKenna (MH) – 3 goals, 4 assists
Oasiz Wiesblatt (MH) – 3 goals, 2 assists
Matthew Gard (RD) – 2 goals
HOW IT HAPPENED
Medicine Hat opened the scoring just over eight minutes into the game as Tanner Molendyk snapped a shot past Rebels rookie netminder Peyton Shore.
Matthew Gard tied it five and a half minutes later when he tipped one through the five-hole of Tigers goalie Harrison Meneghin for his 17th goal of the season.
The game tilted when Medicine Hat struck for three goals in the final five minutes of the opening frame. McKenna and Wiesblatt scored even strength before McKenna tallied shorthanded for a 4-1 Tigers lead through 20 minutes.
Ollie Josephson brought the Rebels back within two as he took a long distance pass from Jace Weir and beat Meneghin for his 14th goal.
The Captain's sneaky wrister finds a way🚨#RDREBELS | #WHL pic.twitter.com/KbIqDQ8gsg
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 16, 2025
McKenna completed his hat trick on a shorthanded breakaway about nine minutes after that for a 5-2 Tigers lead.
Gard made it 5-3 when he won a draw back to Jaxon Fuder then tipped home his ensuing shot from the slot.
Here's Gard's second of the night 🚨🚨#RDREBELS | #WHL pic.twitter.com/hTUGh7KMNk
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) March 16, 2025
That scored held until late in the third period as the Tigers made Red Deer pay for two penalties with two more power play tallies, both from Wiesblatt as he too completed a hat trick performance, to pull away for a four-goal win.
Red Deer outshot Medicine Hat 31-26 but went goalless on three power plays while the Tigers were 3-for-5.
THREE STARS
1. McKenna
2. Wiesblatt
3. Gard
NOTES
McKenna passed Sidney Crosby for the second longest point streak in the CHL since 2001 at 38 games. He had 20 points in eight games versus Red Deer this season (4 goals, 16 assists) … The CHL record scoring streak since 2000 belongs to Alexander Radulov of the Quebec Remparts, who logged a 50-game point streak in 2005-06 … Rebels defenceman Doogan Pederson had an assist to run his point streak to three games … Gard finishes with eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) in seven games versus Medicine Hat this season … Not dressed for the Rebels in this game were Chase Wutzke (upper), Parker MacDougall, Nishaan Parmar, Dmitri Toporowski and Jack Bousquet … attendance at Co-op Place was 5,645.
NEXT UP
The Rebels play the first of two-straight games versus the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday, March 19 at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 7 p.m. (WHL Live, 106.7 REWIND Radio).
