Tigers Win 12th In A Row
The Tigers headed to Portland on Friday night for their fifth game on the US road trip. It’s been a great trip so far with the Tigers winning all four games and outscoring their opponents 18 to 8.
Oasiz Wiesblatt opened the scoring for the Tigers 7:04 into the first period. Ryder Ritchie found Wiesblatt in front of the net with a perfect pass that he tapped in for his 23rd goal of the season. Gavin McKenna picked up the secondary assist to extend his point streak to 25 games.
Five minutes later, the Tigers power play struck in the dying seconds of the man advantage. Tanner Molendyk let a laser go from the left dot that found the top right corner for his sixth of the year. Ritchie and Wiesblatt added to the game totals with the helpers.
The Tigers finished off the period by putting one more up on the scoreboard. The puck came loose in the corner after Wiesblatt muscled the Winterhawk off the puck. McKenna grabbed the puck and let go a quick backhand pass to Ritchie at the right faceoff circle. He let a shot go that found the net high on the blocker side for his 19th of the campaign.
Despite Portland outshooting the Tigers 12 to 9 in the middle frame, Medicine Hat would increase their lead to four goals late in the period. Hunter St. Martin became the Tigers’ first 30 goal scorer of the season. He beat the goaltender on the blocker side with a wrister from the left dot.
After having two goals called back earlier, Portland would finally get on the board with two minutes remaining in the second. Off a faceoff, Josh Zakreski let a wrister go from the front of the net. He found the top corner for his 28th of the season. Diego Buttazzoni picked up the assist on the goal.
The Tigers offence continued to fire on all cylinders in the third period. Seven minutes into the period, the rookie line made it a 5-1 contest. Markus Ruck found his brother out front with a great backhand saucer pass. Liam Ruck let a low shot go that beat the netminder for this 16th of the season. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll got in on the action with the secondary assist.
The Tigers would strike again just over a minute later. McKenna picked up his third point of the night when he let a shot go from the high slot that found the back of the net. Wiesblatt also picked up his third point of the night with the helper on McKenna’s 26th of the season.
Jonas Woo would add another for good measure at the midway point of the final frame. Woo controlled the puck through the slot avoiding defenders and found a good shooting lane. He let a wrister go that beat the goalie on the glove side for his 10th of the season. Misha Volotovskii and Bryce Pickford picked up the assists.
The Winterhawks would get one back before the end of the game. Zakreski came in over the blue line on the left side and let a wrister go that beat the netminder glove side. It was his second of the night and 29th overall. Carter Sotheran and David Hoy picked up the helpers on the goal.
Portland’s goal would cut the lead to 7-2 but that’s where things would end on Friday night. The win gave the Tigers a perfect 5-0 record so far on their road trip and was their 12th straight win overall.
Harrison Meneghin got the start in net for the Tigers. He won his seventh straight game since returning from injury and his 14th overall this season. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced in the game. Marek Schlenker was in net for the Winterhawks, saving 25 of the 32 shots he faced.
Shots:
- Medicine Hat – 32
- Portland – 28
Special Teams:
- PP: 1/1 – 100%
- PK: 4/4 – 100%
Stringam Law Three Stars:
- Ryder Ritchie – Medicine Hat
- Josh Zakreski – Portland
- Diego Buttazzoni – Portland
Supplement King Hardest Working Player: Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow night when they finish off their US road trip in Seattle against the Thunderbirds at accesso ShoWare Center. Game time is 7:05 PM (MST). You can listen live on Wild 94.5 FM or watch on watch.chl.ca.