NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Tigers forward Andrew Basha and the rest of his line greet Oasiz WIesblatt after the forward scored his first period goal in Medicine Hat's 6-1 win Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place.
The Medicine Hat Tigers didn’t look back one they got on the scoreboard Wednesday.
The Tigers scored six times in a row to beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-1 at Co-op Place. Wednesday’s win gets them back in the win column after falling 5-4 Saturday night in Prince Albert against the Raiders.
Associate coach Joe Frazer said they did a good job of setting themselves up for strong third period.
“We want to be a great three period team, to do that you have to play the right way in the first two periods to set yourself up to have a successful third period and that’s playing that half ice game and making sure we’re wearing the other team down,” Frazer said. “We did a good job of that today in the third, just locking them down and make them go 200 feet. It’s definitely something we have to continue to work on because that’s that’s going to be a key moving forward.”
The Tigers didn’t get the start they wanted as the Oil Kings got on the board first with an own goal that was credited to Mason Finley. Medicine Hat answered back minutes later with a goal from Oasiz Wiesblatt, who accidentally put the puck behind Langkow for Edmonton’s goal. Andrew Basha and Brendan Lee had the assists on Wiesblatt’s ninth of the season, which was the last goal of the first frame.
Frazer said the way the Tigers rebounded after the own goal is a really good sign of their growth as a team.
“It’s way different than last year. If we get scored on now, I feel the calmness on the bench and just the confidence that we can come back,” Frazer said. “That starts with our leadership group, our older guys have been outstanding standing keeping the young guys composed and just staying positive.”
The Tigers took the lead 5:53 into the second frame with yet another power play goal from Lee, his ninth on the season. Wiesblatt and Basha had the assists on what was Lee’s 13th goal this year.
They struck again 2:08 later when Brayden Boehm tipped in a pass from Tomas Mrsic for his ninth of the season. Tyler MacKenzie had the secondary assist, his first of three on the night.
Medicine Hat carried the offence into the third period where Reid Andresen scored 3:37 into the frame, potting a power play goal for his fourth marker on the year. Basha and MacKenzie with the helpers.
Like MacKenzie, Basha finished with three assists on the night. He says he’s always happy to pass for a goal and says they take a lot of confidence from Wednesday’s win.
“Guys will sleep better tonight after a big win like that,” Basha said. “It puts you in the right mood going into Red Deer on Friday and you always want a win like that.”
Already ahead 4-1 the Tigers put the game away for good with goals from Pasha Bocharov and Tomas Mrsic at 14:13 and 16:21 for the eventual 6-1 final score. Cayden Lindstrom and Owen MacNeil had the assists on Bocharov’s fifth and Boehm and MacKenzie had the helpers on Mrsic’s third.
“I obviously have great line mates who have speed and make nice plays,” Mrsic said. “We just found the back of the net today which is always pretty nice.”
Besides the first period goal Tigers net minder Beckett Langkow was perfect in his 18th start of the season, turning aside 25 shots for his seventh win on the campaign. Across the ice, Oil Kings goalie Kolby Hay made 26 saves. Wiesblatt, Lee, Boehm and Mrsic all finished with a goal and an assist each for the Tigers.
Medicine Hat (7-10-4-1) will practice Thursday before a three game weekend starting in Red Deer on Friday against the Rebels. The Tigers host the Calgary Hitmen Saturday night and the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
Frazer says they’ll need all four lines to perform if they want to have success over the busy weekend.
“If we’re going to win games, we need everybody playing well that night. So when we win, it’s a great feeling because we’ll know we counted on everybody,” Frazer said. “We have to play four lines especially with three-in0-three and there’s no excuse. It’s going to be rolling out and playing hard and we just have to make sure we’re doing the right things off the ice to recover and make sure we’re ready each night.”
