Hamblin powers Tigers to victory in Swift Current
By Ryan McCracken on January 18, 2019.
James Hamblin made the difference on Friday night at the Innovation Credit Union I-Plex. The Medicine Hat Tigers captain scored one goal and assisted on another to lead his team to their second consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos. Riley Lamb kept the Broncos in a scoreless contest with 19 saves in the first period, but the Tigers finally broke through his defences on a shorthanded odd-man rush six minutes into the second. While Swift Current looked poised to take an edge with Bryan Lockner serving an unsportsmanlike conduct minor after giving Lamb a snow shower at the whistle, Tyler Preziuso quickly turned things the other way and found Hamblin streaking to the net for his third shorthanded tally of the year. Corson Hopwo doubled up on the lead four minutes later when he deflected a shot from Hamblin under the bar for his third goal of the year and second in as many games. Linus Nassen picked up the second assist on the marker, pushing his point streak to four games with one goal and four helpers in the span. Trevor Longo tacked onto the lead when he beat Lamb on a shot through traffic nine minutes into the third. The goal was initially attributed to Hamblin, but was later changed. Ethan O’Rourke broke Jordan Hollett’s shutout bid just over a minute later by picking up a loose puck in the slot and firing it over the Hat netminder for his fifth of the year, but the Broncos were unable to completely erase the deficit and slipped to 9-31-2-1 on the season as a result. Hollett collected the victory on 23 saves to push Medicine Hat to 25-16-2-2 with their second straight victory. Lamb stopped 43 in the loss. The Tigers and Broncos make the trip to the Canalta Centre to close out a home-and-home set Saturday at 7:30 p.m. 10-9
