Tigers Edge Hitmen 4-3

Category: ArticleJanuary 20, 2026

Medicine Hat, AB – The Tigers took on the Hitmen for the sixth of eight matchups this season on Tuesday, January 20th in Co-op Place. Medicine Hat had a 4-1-0-0 record against Calgary heading into Tuesday’s match.

The mid-week action wasted no time getting started as the Hitmen were on the board just 3:13 after the first puck drop. An unfortunate bounce off of the wall and Carter Casey‘s skate led to Shaun Hildebrandt giving Calgary an early lead.

Calgary had the Tigers on their toes with the early goal and continued to keep their foot on the gas, putting up 14 shots in the first frame.

The Tigers’ solid D-core combined with Casey’s stellar performance kept the Hitmen at bay despite their continued offensive efforts.

An opportunity for the Tigers to get on the board came at the end of the first period as they went on their first power play. The Tigers’ special teams have been a big part of their success this season, with their power play and penalty kill ranking second in the WHL. The power play unit worked their magic once again, generating a goal from Liam Ruck at 14:47 to tie the game 1-1. Ruck deflected an Andrew Basha shot that came from the right circle for his 26th tally of the season.

Neither team wanted to give up an inch in the second period, with both teams failing to get on the scoresheet until the last 2:05 of the middle frame.

Medicine Hat put up a whopping 18 shots in the second period, while Calgary put up six. Goaltenders on both ends were put to work, and both made big saves to stop grade-a chances.

Many of the Tigers 18 shots were high-danger scoring chances including a breakaway from Yaroslav Bryzgalov. Eric Tu put on a great effort in the Hitmen crease stopping the Tigers’ incredible offensive efforts for most of the second period, until they eventually found their way past Tu at 17:55.

It was the Calgary native Basha that found the back of the net to give the Tigers the lead late in the second. The play started with a pass from Josh Van Mulligen down low to Markus Ruck, who fed Basha with a cross-seam pass for his fourth goal of the year.

Jonas Woo managed to add to the Tigers’ lead just before the end of the period at 18:57. A wrist shot from the point through traffic fooled Tu for Woo’s 24th tally of the season, placing him sixth all time for goals by a Tigers defenceman in a season.

The offensive push from the Tabbies continued into the third period as they scored their fourth straight goal at 8:53. Noah Davidson knocked in a puck that came loose after a hard battle behind the net sent the puck out front for Davidson’s 13th goal of his rookie campaign.

Calgary answered Medicine Hat’s four straight goals with a power play tally from Andrei Molgachev to bring the Hitmen within two at 11:09.

With nine second remaining in the third, Rylan Ng made it a one goal game with his seventh of the year.

The Hitmen were unable to complete the come back, and the Tigers held on to secure the 4-3 win.

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