Tigers fall in overtime to Blades
Medicine Hat, AB – A playoff like atmosphere at Co-op Place sees the Medicine Hat Tigers tie the game late in third, only to fall in overtime to the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 Saturday night.
The Tigers would open the scoring on a Blades power play as Hunter St. Martin (Edmonton, AB) would break-in for his 3rd shorthanded goal of the season and 20th of the year to make it 1-0 Medicine Hat at 6:05. The Tigers would then double their lead to 2-0 on a double minor penalty call to the Blades as Shane Smith (Cessford, AB) would bat in his 27th and team tying lead in goals at 13:27. Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, YT) & Tomas Mrsic (Surrey, BC) would draw assists on the goal.
Saskatoon would soon after the Tigers made it 2-0, cut into the lead on a two-on-one as Brandon Lisowsky wires his 31st of the year to make it a one-goal game into the second period.
A tight second period would see no scoring till the final 5.4 seconds of the frame as Brandon Lisowsky would fire his second of the night past Tigers goaltender Ethan McCallum (Brandon, MB) to make it a 2-2 draw heading to the third period.
The top two teams in the Eastern Conference would trade blows in the third as the Blades would take their first lead of the night as Fraser Minten would re-direct a point shot past McCallum to make it 3-2 Saskatoon. Medicine Hat would tie the game at 3-3 as Tomas Mrsic (Surrey, BC) would fire his 15th of the season past Austin Elliott at 12:28 from Tyler MacKenzie (Red Deer, AB) & Dru Krebs (Okotoks, AB).
Saskatoon poured on the pressure late in the period outshooting the Tigers 10-4 in the period but overtime would be needed in for the second straight night for the Tigers. But in the extra frame after a Tigers chance at one end of the ice. Fraser Minten would hit the game-winner at 1:08 to give the Blades the extra point and the win.
With the loss, the Tigers are now 32-17-4-2 on the season but with a Red Deer loss to Edmonton Saturday night. The Tigers are now six points clear of the Rebels for 1st in the Central Division heading into holiday Monday.
Medicine Hat will travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings at 2 PM on Monday afternoon.