Hamblin scores four: Tigers top Hurricanes, fall to Oil Kings

By RYAN MCCRACKEN on January 20, 2020.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken

Some things just come naturally to James Hamblin.

The Medicine Hat Tigers captain scored three unanswered goals in the first period of Saturday’s 6-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Canalta Centre to complete the first natural hat trick of his Western Hockey League career – then he added another for good measure.

“The amount of two-goal games I’ve had, to be able to pot a third was huge, especially at home,” said Hamblin, whose Tigers went on to fall 4-2 to the Oil Kings Sunday in Edmonton. “Having the week off was big. I tried to use it to the best of my ability and I think this was just a product of that. I’m just making sure I’m rested up and feeling good.”

Hamblin has been consistently reaching new heights as the leader of the Tigers this season, with Saturday’s hat trick holding up as the second of both his career and the campaign. Assistant coach Joe Frazer says the 20-year-old’s work ethic is second-to-none, so it was almost fitting to see Hamblin rewarded in such spectacular fashion.

“He’s always showing up in big games,” Frazer said of Hamblin, who sat third in the WHL scoring race following Saturday’s games with 68 points. “He has a ton of pride wearing the Tigers jersey and he’s always our hardest worker. He’s so respected in the room because of his work ethic. He’s an unbelievable captain for us and he had a huge game.”

Hamblin entered the offensive zone right off the opening draw and threaded a rebound from Corson Hopwo behind Hurricanes goaltender Carl Tetachuk to set the pace for the evening just 12 seconds into the game.

The Edmonton product repeated the feat less than four minutes later – taking a behind-the-net pass from Lukas Svejkovsky and beating Tetachuk over the blocker for his 25th goal of the campaign.

“That line was really good,” said Frazer. “I thought Lukas was really good with the puck tonight. Those two, the chemistry is starting to build each night.”

The Hurricanes found some momentum later in the period when Parker Gavlas was nabbed for a pair of minor infractions, but in true Hamblin fashion, the Hat captain completed his natural hatty with a shorthanded breakaway goal.

Tetachuk was replaced by Bryan Thomson to open the second after allowing three goals on 11 shots through the first.

Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund kept the ‘Canes at bay with 13 saves through the opening period, but the Highway 3 rivals found their way onto the board midway through the second. After hemming the Tigers into their own end, Calen Addison put a shot on goal and Dylan Cozens tucked in the rebound to make it 3-1. The pair of Hurricanes are coming off a gold-medal performance with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship, and were honoured for their efforts on the Canalta Centre’s big screen prior to puck drop – earning a rousing ovation from the 3,078 in attendance.

“Me and Cozens were on the blue line and we said, ‘That’s actually pretty cool,'” said Addison. “To have a rival team honour us in that way, and have the fans and players clapping for us, it’s good. We appreciate it.”

The momentum was short-lived however, as the Hurricanes put themselves in penalty trouble when Logan Barlage was caught checking from behind halfway through the second. It only took 22 seconds for Medicine Hat’s league-best power play to strike – with Dylan Plouffe netting a shot from the point to restore a three-goal lead after 40 minutes.

Hamblin went back at it early in the third, muscling his way to another breakaway and beating Thomson between the wickets for the first four-goal night of his 304-game career.

“It’s nothing new,” said Tigers alternate captain Ryan Chyzowski. “He’s pretty spectacular every night so it’s just a matter of time before they all go in like that. It was unreal to see. He works so hard every day. He’s such a consistent leader for us and such an unreal guy in the dressing room.”

The Hurricanes answered with a goal from Justin Hall then found themselves on a power play halfway through the third, but this time Chyzowski took the puck the other way and scored shorthanded to snuff out any hope for a Lethbridge comeback.

“We definitely have to be harder on them,” said Addison. “They’ve got a lot of speed up front and they feed off our turnovers, so we’ve got to clean up a lot of different areas and be a lot harder on them.”

Bjorklund collected the victory with a 26-save performance, pushing Medicine Hat past Lethbridge for second in the Central Division.

Thomson stopped 20 in relief of Tetachuk. The Hurricanes fell to 26-11-2-5 with the loss.

Hamblin and the Tigers were unable to carry their momentum into Sunday’s matinée with the Oil Kings.

Svejkovksy scored twice, while Hamblin, Hopwo and Daniel Baker picked up assists, but it was Edmonton’s Riley Sawchuk who stole the show.

The overage centre scored late in the second to knot up a 2-2 game, then finished off a natural hat trick with a power play goal and an empty-netter in the third – closing out the day with four points.

Matthew Robertson rounded out the scoring for the Oil Kings

Medicine Hat (29-13-1-1) now sits nine points back of Edmonton (30-7-6-3) for first in the Central Division.

The Tigers will be in Saskatoon Friday to face the Blades at 6 p.m.

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