Tigers Rout Raiders
Just under five minutes into the period, the Tigers opened the scoring on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play started by Mathew Ward, who carried the puck into the Raiders zone on a 3-on-1. Ward dished it to Liam Ruck, who quickly found a streaking Hunter St. Martin, and St. Martin buried his team-leading 25th of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Just over a minute later, Ethan Neutens took a boarding penalty that put the Tigers on the penalty kill. Medicine Hat handled the situation with ease, limiting the Raiders’ opportunities and successfully killing off the infraction.
Shortly after returning to full strength, Dayce Derkatch was whistled for high sticking, sending the Tigers’ power play out for its first chance of the night. The Tigers capitalized when Jonas Woo found the back of the net on his sixth goal of the season, extending his point streak to six games. Liam and Markus Ruck combined for the assists on Woo’s tally.
Seconds later, off the ensuing faceoff, Kadon McCann carried the puck into the Prince Albert zone and ripped a shot past goaltender Max Hildebrand. Misha Volotovskii picked up his first assist as a Tiger on the play. Two minutes later, McCann struck again, wheeling into the Raiders zone and beating Hildebrand for his fifth of the season, making it 4-0 and prompting Prince Albert to burn its timeout despite more than two periods left in the contest.
With just over a minute to go in the frame, offsetting penalties created a 4-on-4 situation. The Raiders took advantage, sneaking a shot past Jordan Switzer to trim the deficit to three at 4-1. By the time the horn sounded, Medicine Hat had outshot Prince Albert 18-5 in a thrilling opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers would continue to roll into the second period. Off a drop pass from Mathew Ward entering the Raiders zone, Bryce Pickford picked up the pass, walked in, and fired a shot past Hildebrand to restore the Tigers’ four-goal lead on his 17th of the season.
Midway through the frame, the Tigers returned to the power play after Rilen Kovacevic was handed two minutes for charging. Medicine Hat generated solid looks, but Prince Albert’s shot blocking kept them off the scoresheet. Seconds after the penalty ended, Linden Burrett took a boarding penalty for hitting Ward from behind, sending the Tigers right back on the man advantage. This time they capitalized, as Oasiz Weisblatt found Gavin McKenna in prime position, and McKenna slipped the puck through Hildebrand’s legs, extending his point streak to 15 games and ending Hildebrand’s night in net. Dimitri Fortin replaced Hildebrand, while Tanner Molendyk also recorded his first assist as a Tiger on the play.
With under two minutes remaining in the period, the Raiders showed signs of life when Riley Boychuk one-timed a cross-ice feed from Daxon Rudolph past a sprawling Switzer, cutting Medicine Hat’s lead to 6-2. Seconds later, Lukas Dragicevic fired a shot from the point that slipped past Switzer’s blocker, pulling Prince Albert within three at 6-3. By the time the horn sounded, the Tigers still held a commanding 32-16 advantage in shots through 40 minutes.
Just over halfway through the final frame, Justice Christensen took a pass at the blue line and unleashed a slap shot through traffic that slipped just past Jordan Switzer’s glove, bringing the Raiders within two with his second of the night to make it 6-4 in an energetic back-and-forth period.
With just over two minutes left, Prince Albert pulled their goaltender in a final push to erase the deficit. The Tigers forced a breakout from their zone, and Gavin McKenna connected with Ryder Ritchie, who tallied his first goal against his former team and secured Medicine Hat’s 7-4 victory.
Special Teams:
- PP: 2/3 – 66.7%
- PK: 1/1 – 100.0%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
- Kadon McCann – Medicine Hat
- Justice Christensen – Prince Albert
- Gavin McKenna – Medicine Hat
Supplement King Hardest Working Player: Oasiz Wiesblatt
The Tigers are back in action at Co-op Place, Friday night vs the Red Deer Rebels. Game time is 7:00PM (MST) Purchase tickets on Tixx.ca or at the Co-op Place Box Office. You can also listen live on Wild 94.5 FM with the voice of the Tigers, Will Bryant or watch on watch.chl.ca.
