Tigers Subdue Rebels 7-1 In Red Deer
The Tigers headed to Red Deer on Friday night to take on the Rebels in their seventh meeting of the season. The Rebels hold the edge in the season series four games to two. The two points up for grabs are vital to both as the Tigers are battling for the top spot in the conference and the Rebels are fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Tigers opened the scoring early in the first period. Josh Van Mulligen threw a shot on net that missed wide right. The puck bounced off the back boards to Ryder Ritchie low on the left side. Ritchie saw an opportunity and banked it off the back of the goalie and into the net for his 26th of the season. Misha Volotovskii also picked up a helper on the opening goal.
Van Mulligen and Ritchie connected again shortly after the first TV timeout. Ritchie had the puck down low and found Van Mulligen at the right faceoff dot with a backhand pass. Van Mulligen let a wrister go that beat the Rebels netminder for his third of the season. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll found the scoresheet with an assist on the goal.
Medicine Hat would add one more before the end of the opening frame to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. While on the power play, Gavin McKenna found Liam Ruck in front of the net with a great backdoor pass. Ruck was able to tap in the puck for his 22nd goal of the season. McKenna’s assist extended his point streak to 36 games making it the longest streak of the WHL’s Internet Era. Oasiz Wiesblatt picked up his 90th point of the season with the secondary assist.
Ritchie kept the offence coming in the second period. He stole the puck, skated into the offensive zone, toe dragged a defender and tucked in his second of the night with a backhand. Ritchie’s 27th of the season gave the Tigers a four-goal lead.
Just over a minute later, the Rebels got on the board with a bit of an unusual goal. Gleb Semenov let a slot go from the slot that was saved. The puck went behind the net and bounced off Nolan Schmidt. The puck trickled back towards the goal and went into the net off Harrison Meneghin.
The Tigers reinstated their four-goal lead midway through the second period. McKenna found Hunter St. Martin with a breakout pass. St. Martin used his speed and went in all alone. He beat the goaltender with a backhand for his team leading 37th goal of the season.
Medicine Hat would add a couple more goals in the third to finish off the game. Late in the third period, the Tigers power play struck again. Ritchie found McKenna with a cross-ice pass. McKenna let a slap shot go from the top of the left circle that redirected off a defender’s skate and into the net. Marcus Pacheco also picked up an assist on McKenna’s 33rd goal of the season.
Ritchie would finish off the Tigers’ offensive assault with 1:55 remaining in the game. He got a slap shot off from the point that found the netting for his hat trick goal. McKenna and Wiesblatt added to the game totals with the assists on the goal that closed the books on a 7-1 Tigers’ victory.
Harrison Meneghin was in net for the Tigers. He had a fantastic game saving 29 of 30 shots to pick up his 19th win of the season. Peyton Shore got the start in net for the Rebels. He allowed seven goals against on 29 shots.
Shots:
- Medicine Hat – 29
- Red Deer – 30
Special Teams:
- PP: 2/5 – 40%
- PK: 7/7 – 100%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
- Ryder Ritchie – Medicine Hat
- Harrison Meneghin – Medicine Hat
- Hunter St. Martin – Medicine Hat
Supplement King Hardest Working Player: Misha Volotovskii
The Tigers are back in action next Friday when they host the rival Lethbridge Hurricanes at Co-op Place. Game time is 7:00 PM (MST). Tickets are available at tixx.ca. You can also listen live on Wild 94.5 FM or watch on watch.chl.ca.
