NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Saskatoon Blades winger Max Gerlach leads his team back to the bench after scoring a goal in a Western Hockey League game against the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Canalta Centre on Wednesday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Max Gerlach looked right at home on Wednesday night at the Canalta Centre.
The former Medicine Hat Tigers sniper netted a pair of goals to power the Saskatoon Blades to a 6-3 victory over his old squad in what could be his final Western Hockey League game in the Gas City.
Medicine Hat took over the early lead when Ryan Jevne put
the puck on net and James Hamblin jammed in the rebound just 14 seconds into
their first power play of the night, but Saskatoon quickly tilted the ice in
their favour.
After hemming the Tigers into their own end and pushing the
pace for the majority of the frame, Gerlach beat Hat netminder Mads Søgaard
with a snipe under the bar to knot the game up at the break.
Gerlach — who scored the first WHL goal in the Canalta
Centre as a member of the Tigers on Sept. 26, 2015 — shrugged off the lack of
support from his former fans and joked, “I built this place,” as he returned to
Saskatoon’s bench.
The Tigers brought a stronger effort into the second period
and held the Blades without a shot for the first six minutes of the frame, but
they found themselves trailing a few minutes later when Logan Christensen was
nabbed for a slash.
Blades centre Ryan Hughes converted on the chance by batting
a juicy rebound past Søgaard with 26 seconds remaining on Christensen’s minor,
then Gerlach added another trademark snipe from the circle a few minutes later.
Fellow Tigers alumnus Gary Haden picked up an assist on Gerlach’s goal.
The Tigers responded in the dying minutes of the frame when Nick McCarry chipped a centering pass from Christensen over Blades netminder Nolan Maier — but Saskatoon snapped back again on a late goal from Eric Florchuk to leave Medicine Hat with a hill to climb entering the third.
Saskatoon’s Tristen Robins stretched the gap to three goals
when he converted on a pass from Kyle Crnkovic two minutes into the final
frame.
Medicine Hat was given a chance to rally back into the contest when Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen was booked on a high-sticking double minor a few minutes later, but Blades captain Chase Wouters pushed the game out of reach with a shorthanded tally just over a minute into the power play — ending Søgaard’s night after six goals on 28 shots.
Jevne added a consolation goal on a man advantage with four
minutes left in regulation.
Maier lifted the Blades to 35-13-8-0 on the season with a 25-save victory.
Søgaard took the loss, dropping Medicine Hat to 31-19-3-2 with his first setback since Feb. 1. Jordan Hollett logged five saves in relief.
The Tigers return to action Friday in Calgary against the
Hitmen at 7 p.m.
