Medicine Hat Tigers forward Corson Hopwo (16) celebrates with teammate Brett Kemp after scoring a goal during a Western Hockey League game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Co-op Place on Friday. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
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The well-rested Medicine Hat Tigers overwhelmed the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a 3-0 victory to open a three-game set on Friday night at Co-op Place.
Coming off their first bye week of the Western Hockey League season, the Tigers tilted the ice in their favour early and kept it that way despite a 44-save effort from Hurricanes netminder Carl Tetachuk.
“The guys were obviously anxious to play after having the bye week so it was nice to see us come out with legs and with some jump,” Tigers assistant coach Joe Frazer said in a post-game Zoom conference.
“I thought our transition game was pretty good, and that’s how we want to play — relentless.”
Oasiz Wiesblatt put Medicine Hat in early penalty trouble when he was nabbed for high sticking just over three minutes into regulation — but the Tabbies quickly turned the tables.
After breaking out of the defensive zone, Brett Kemp found Corson Hopwo to finish off an odd-man rush with a shorthanded opening tally.
Daniel Baker joined Wiesblatt in the bin shortly after the goal, but Medicine Hat killed off the short two-man advantage thanks to a few clutch stops from goaltender Garin Bjorklund — who finished with 22 saves for the shutout.
“I think they had one or two chances on that 5-on-3,” said Frazer. “That was a big kill, Garin came up huge.”
The Tigers then went on to pepper Tetachuk with 17 shots in the opening frame while allowing just six, but the Lethbridge netminder held strong to keep his team in a one-goal game.
“I thought we had a really good first period,” said Lukas Svejkovsky, who finished with a pair of goals. “We had possession of the puck for most of that and it really showed with the shots on goal. I really liked our start and we definitely carried it throughout the game.”
Medicine Hat continued to lay the pressure on thick in the second — extending the shot differential to 36-13 after 40 minutes — but Tetachuk stopped all 19 pucks he saw in the middle frame.
Svejkovsky finally extended the lead in the opening minute of the third period by ripping a shot off the bar and past Tetachuk in his first game back after missing two to injury.
“I feel 100% again,” said Svejkovsky. “We had a really good week in practice. It was really high-intensity all week, lots of battle drills and stuff like that.”
Svejkovsky pushed the game out of reach 11 minutes later when he jammed home a rebound in the blue paint — giving 15-year-old defenceman Reid Andresen his first career point in his WHL debut.
“The first game felt pretty fast, just adapting to the speed and stuff,” said Andresen. “But as the game progressed I felt I adapted pretty good.”
Medicine Hat now sits at 5-3-0-0 on the season following the win — which stands as the second shutout of Bjorklund’s career.
“The guys played great in front of me. Reid getting his first point in his first game — that kid’s flying,” said Bjorklund. “I couldn’t complain, the guys were helping me see the pucks and fortunately we were good enough to capitalize.”
Lethbridge fell to 3-5-1-0 with the loss.
The Tigers and Hurricanes make the trip to the Enmax Centre for a rematch Saturday at 7 p.m. before closing out the three-game set on Sunday in Medicine Hat at 6 p.m.
