Tigers Take Game One 6-4
The Tigers and Raiders opened their second round series on Saturday night at Co-op Place. The series is a battle between the two division leaders in the Eastern Conference. The Tigers held the edge in the regular season series 3-0-1-0.
The Tigers dominated the play early in the first period outshooting the Raiders 12-5. Despite this fact, the Raiders would open the scoring midway through the first. Riley Boychuk had the puck in the corner and found Evan Smith cutting to the slot. Smith let a wrister go from the hash marks and found the back of the net for his first of the postseason.
Medicine Hat’s shot advantage would eventually pay off as they tied the game up late in the opening frame. Markus Ruck had the puck high on the left side and found his brother Liam making a move down the middle of the ice. Liam skated in and got a wrister off that just beat the netminder on the glove side for his first career WHL goal. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll also picked up a helper on the tying goal.
The Tigers absolutely owned the second period scoring four unanswered goals. They once again held a commanding advantage in shots leading 20 to 4 in the frame. The Tigers power play got things started eight minutes into the second. Bryce Pickford found Tanner Molendyk at the point with a backhand pass. Molendyk put a wrister on net that Oasiz Wiesblatt was able to tip in for his league leading eight playoff goal.
The Tigers power play got another chance almost immediately after Vojtech Vochvest tried to continue playing after he lost his helmet. Wiesblatt found Pickford with a cross ice pass where he let a hard wrister go. The shot missed the net but bounced off the back board and out to Gavin McKenna at the side of the net. He wasted no time putting the puck into the net for his third of the playoffs.
Just over four minutes later, Josh Van Mulligen would make it a 4-1 game with his second of the postseason. Marcus Pacheco found Mathew Ward with a great breakout pass that sent him in on a partial break. With the defender gaining, Ward found Van Mulligen with an unexpected back pass. He let a wrister go from the slot that trickled just over the line.
The special team’s unit would finish off the period with their third power play goal. Ryder Ritchie had the puck on the half wall and skated it in. He let a laser beam go from just inside the faceoff dot that picked the top corner. Ward and Veeti Vaisanen picked up the assists on Ritchie’s fifth of the playoffs.
Despite being in a hole late, the Raiders didn’t give up. They turned the tables and outshot the Tigers 11 to 4 in the final frame. Their persistence paid off with a pair of early goals to cut the lead to 5-3. While on the power play, Daxon Rudolph let a wrister go from the point that found its way through traffic and beat the screened goaltender. Aiden Oiring and Niall Crocker picked up the helpers on Rudolph’s first of the playoffs.
Midway through the second, Ethan Bibeau found Smith with a drop pass that he wristed onto the net. The puck went off the netminder’s mask and bounced over his shoulder. Dayce Derkatch was at the side of the net and was able to tap the bouncing puck in for his first of the playoffs.
The Tigers would get one back with 4:33 remaining in the third. Kadon McCann battled hard behind the net and came away with the puck. He skated out and found Jonas Woo up high where he put a wrister on net from. Misha Volotovskii was able to get his stick on the puck and redirect it in for his first of the postseason.
Only 25 second later, the Raiders would respond once again. Rilen Kovacevic found Brayden Dube with a long breakout pass. He snuck behind the defender and used his body to shield the puck. He got a shot off that found the top corner on the block side to cut the lead to 6-4.
That would be as close as the Raiders would get though as the Tigers held on win by a pair and take the early lead in the series.
Jordan Switzer got the call in net for the Tigers. He made 16 saves to pick up his first career WHL playoff victory. Max Hildebrand started the game in net for the Raiders. He allowed five goals against on 32 shots in two periods of play. Dimitri Fortin came on in relief and made 3 saves on 4 shots.
Shots:
- Medicine Hat – 36
- Prince Albert – 20
Special Teams:
- PP: 3/3 – 100%
- PK: 2/3 – 66.7%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
- Oasiz Wiesblatt – Medicine Hat
- Bryce Pickford – Medicine Hat
- Evan Smith – Prince Albert
Supplement King Hardest Working Player: Tanner Molendyk
The series continues tomorrow night with Game 2 at Co-op Place. Game time is 6:00 PM (MST). Tickets are available at tixx.ca. You can also listen live on Wild 94.5 FM or watch free on the Victory+ app.
