NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Shane Smith celebrates his power play goal in the first period of a 5-2 win Tuesday night at Co-op Place against the Prince George Cougars.
The Medicine Hat Tigers came out on top in the battle of the big cats Tuesday night.
The Tigers scored early and held on to beat the Prince George Cougars 5-2 at Co-op Place. The matchup was the first time the two teams faced off since Nov. 16, 2019. Medicine Hat came into the contest off a 8-3 loss Saturday night in Winnipeg against the Ice.
Associate coach Joe Frazer credited goalie Beckett Langkow for keeping them in the game as they found a way to win. He was happy to see the forecheck work as well as it did and the power play get rewarded in the win.
“We want to be a forechecking team who plays with speed,” Frazer said. “We got a little lackadaisical recovering above the puck which give them some out numbered chances and Becks bailed us out quite a few times in the first. Then in the second we got a little bit more o-zone time and created some chances.
“It’s nice to see the power play score a big forth goal to seal it, we haven’t had that much this year, where a late power play chance to seal it and it’s nice to get one.”
Langkow made 27 saves between the pipes for his 14th win of the season. The 19-year-old says it was a game they needed to win and was happy to get a bounce back effort. The Vegreville product had been pulled in his last two starts entering Tuesday.
“My last couple of games hadn’t really gone well for me and then this one is really really nice to get,” Langkow said. “I though I played really well and I don’t think I changed too much really. Now I just have to forget about this one and just refocus for tomorrow’s game.”
The Tigers are in Swift Current on Wednesday to take on the Broncos. Tuesday night marked the return of former Tigers Cayden Glover and Carlin Dezainde who were traded to the Cougars on Dec. 28, 2021.
Cayden Lindstrom opened the scoring 1:56 into the first period after scoring his 12th of the year on a behind the back pass from Dallon Melin.
A little over 13 minutes later, Andrew Basha found the back of the net for the first time on the night scoring on a partial breakaway fed from Oasiz Wiesblatt and Kurtis Smythe. Wiesblatt finished the night with three assists and as much as he enjoys putting the puck in the back of the net himself, he’s not too selfish when it comes to lighting the lamp.
“I love goals,” Wiesblatt said. “If it’s to make us win, I love it.”
The Tigers weren’t done in the period as Shane Smith finished scored on a power play with 1:15 left in the period. Wiesblatt and Bogdans Hodass had the helpers on Smith’s 13th of the year.
The Cougars scored the only goal of the second period, Viliam Kmec found the back of the net with 1:48 left in the frame.
Medicine Hat brought back the offence in the third, another power play goal and Basha’s second of the game 3:34 into the final period. Smith and Wiesblatt had the assists on Basha’s ninth of the campaign. He was just as happy to score two goals as he was they got the two points.
“I’ve been a bit snake bit for the last little bit here, so it was nice to kind of get a couple there,” Basha said. “At the end of the day, I’m just happy that we got the two points. ”
Prince George’s Chase Wheatcroft scored on a power play with 56 seconds left in the game to bring the Cougars within two before Dallon Melin scored his 11th of the year on an empty net with six seconds left.
The Tigers faced both Prince George goaltenders, Ty Young made four saves on seven shots before Tyler Brennan took over and played the remaining 39:36 while stopping 19 of 20 shots he faced.
After Medicine Hat’s (16-21-5-1) battle in Swift Current on Wednesday, they’ll host the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday before the Broncos roll into Co-op Place for a 4 p.m. contest on Sunday. The Tigers sit three points back of Swift Current for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Wiesblatt says they’ll look to keep building off their win and gain ground in the playoff hunt.
“We just have to get hydrated and just stretch ourselves out but it’s a big game,” Wiesblatt said. “They’ve came at us four times now and it’s time for us to make a push back and it’s game one for us tomorrow. Building off of this is how we get started tomorrow.”
