Lockner buries a late one
By Ryan McCracken on February 21, 2018.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken
Bryan Lockner scored his biggest goal of the year on Tuesday night at the Canalta Centre.
The 18-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers centre broke open a tie game in the dying minutes of the third period to secure a late 3-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice and stretch his team’s narrow lead atop the Western Hockey League’s Central Division to three points.
“That was a huge goal for our team,” said Lockner. “Everybody in the locker room knows (the Lethbridge Hurricanes) are coming up on us. Every game is important and coming off that big game against Swift Current we didn’t want to take Kootenay lightly. They’ve been playing real well, they’re fighting for a playoff spot, and I think we came out hard and played really well.”
The Tigers controlled the early action and looked poised to pull out in front when David Quenneville drew a tripping penalty on Peyton Krebs halfway through the opening frame. But the Ice promptly turned the tables when Brett Davis forced a turnover in the neutral zone and beat Hat goaltender Michael Bullion on a shorthanded breakaway to give Kootenay the edge at the break.
“I thought we started great but we turned the puck over midway through the first period a few times and they got some momentum, then we turned it over on the power play which cost us,” said Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston. “I thought it was good to get the break only down one because I didn’t think we were playing that great at the end of the first.”
While Ice goaltender Matt Berlin kept Medicine Hat off the board with 11 stops in the first, Tyler Preziuso finally broke through his defences late in the middle frame. The 19-year-old winger picked off a pass from Jonathan Smart in the Kootenay end and quickly threw a backhand past Berlin to set things back to even with his 13th goal of the year.
“It took us a little while into the second to sort of establish and get on our game plan,” said Clouston. “But I thought a few minutes into the second until the end of the third, for the majority of the time, we executed the way we wanted to.”
The Tigers pushed the pace well into the third period, hemming the Ice into their own end for the majority of the frame, but it took an odd-man rush to get the go-ahead goal past Berlin entering the final five minutes of regulation. Lockner finished off the rush when he cut in from the wing and chipped a set-up pass from James Hamblin into the net — bringing the crowd of 2,904 to their feet and forcing the Ice into desperation mode.
“I thought we played a pretty strong game. We had a bit of a breakdown there in the third, giving up a 3-on-2, and I think that’s pretty much where our downfall was,” said Davis. “It’s disappointing but we’re going to put together a couple good practice and come back strong.”
Kootenay pushed for an equalizer but Quenneville put the game away with an empty-net goal in the final minute — making him the first defenceman in Tigers history to record 200 career points.
“I didn’t even know that was 200, to be honest but it feels good,” said Quenneville. “Putting up 200 points in this league is not easy at all but I’ve got really good teammates in there and guys that battle for me every night.”
Bullion stopped 19 shots to lock up the victory and push the Tigers to 30-24-7-0 on the season. Berlin settled for the 29-save loss, dropping Kootenay to 25-34-3-0.
The Tigers head to Cranbrook to close out a home-and-home set with the Ice on Friday at 7 p.m.
