Tigers Fall To Oil Kings in Teddy Bear Thriller.
It was a night of flying fur and dramatic swings at Co-op Place, as the Medicine Hat Tigers hosted their Teddy Bear Toss game against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Edmonton came out with an early surge, opening the scoring when Rylen Roersma ripped a shot past Jordan Switzer off a feed from Adam Jecho. Temporarily silencing the Medicine Hat crowd to make it 1-0 Oil Kings.
Moments later, the Oil Kings took advantage of a turnover in the Tigers’ zone, allowing Cole Miller to fire a wrister from the slot putting Edmonton up 2-0 midway through the frame.
But the Tigers refused to back down. With just over five minutes left, 16-year-old Liam Ruck etched his name in the Tigers’ history books, netting the 2024 Teddy Bear Goal off a set-up from his brother Markus Ruck. The ice was showered with teddy bears, energizing both the crowd and the Tigers’ bench.
The momentum shifted sharply in Medicine Hat’s favour. With two and a half minutes remaining, Ryder Ritchie capitalized on a loose puck that squeaked through Alex Worthington, going top shelf to knot the game at 2-2.
Then, in the final minutes, Marcus Pacheco wanted a part of the action, ripping a beautiful shot over Worthington’s glove and giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead heading into intermission. It was a thrilling start to a special night, as the Tigers turned a rocky opening into a one-goal advantage.
The second period opened with more offence from the Tigers. Just over two minutes in, Liam Ruck continued his stellar night by sending a beautiful backhand cross-crease pass to Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, who buried his 5th goal of the season, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
Shortly after, Ryder Ritchie was called for a penalty, giving Edmonton its third power play of the contest. Though the Tigers killed it off, as the penalty expired, a fortunate bounce off the end boards found its way to Edmonton’s Roan Woodward who managed to redirect the puck off Jordan Switzer’s foot and into the net, trimming Medicine Hat’s lead to 4-3.
As the period wore on, tensions rose. With under five minutes remaining, Marshall Finnie collided with Switzer, stirring up chaos that resulted in multiple penalties—two assessed to Edmonton and one to the Tigers. Minutes later, Gavin McKenna took a slash in the offensive zone from Woodward but no call was made. McKenna left the game following the incident but would return for the third period.
The closing moments of the period remained chippy and intense. Medicine Hat emerged from the scrum with a power play that would carry over into the final frame, as the Tigers clung to their one-goal advantage, setting the stage for a pivotal third period.
Six minutes into the third period, Woodward slipped the puck over the goal line after it trickled through Switzer’s pads, knotting the score at 4-4.
A minute later, another collision involving Switzer sent the Tigers back on the man advantage, though only for a standard two-minute stretch despite the netminder going down briefly.
Edmonton then seized control near the midway point of the period, as Gracyn Sawchyn found the back of the net to put the Oil Kings up 5-4.
With 90 seconds remaining, the Tigers pulled Switzer for the extra attacker. Edmonton promptly took advantage, scoring into the empty net for a 6-4 lead. Seconds later, Joe Iginla added another insurance goal, sealing a 7-4 victory for the Oil Kings in a turbulent third period.
Special Teams:
- PP: 0/7 – 0%
- PK: 4/6 – 33..3%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
- Liam Ruck – Medicine Hat
- Markus Ruck – Medicine Hat
- Cole Miller – Edmonton
Supplement King Hardest Working Player: Marcus Pacheco
The Tigers are back in action Tuesday vs Saskatoon. Game time is 7:00PM (MST) You can purchase tickets on Tixx.ca or the Co-op Place Box Office. OR you can listen live on Wild 94.5 FM or watch on watch.chl.ca.
