Tigers get bounce back victory on McCallum’s first WHL win

By James Tubb on November 4, 2023.

A night of firsts propelled the Medicine Hat Tigers to victory Saturday at Co-op Place.

Ethan McCallum’s first Western Hockey League win and Hayden Harsanyi’s first goal in the league were the difference makers in the Tigers’ 4-1 win over the Everett Silvertips.

The win snaps a min two-game losing streak for the Tigers who dropped a 4-3 OT contest Friday against the Lethrbdige Hurricanes and fell 6-3 against the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday. Head coach Willie Desjardins was disappointed by his team’s pace in Friday’s loss, but was encouraged by their response and speed on Saturday,

“We talked about our speed last night, I didn’t think we were playing with any speed but our speed was way better tonight,” Desjardins said. “We talked about five up, our defence were up in the forecheck which made a big difference. Then we come back in our own zone and we’re five back and able to breakout. Everett is a really good team, that was a really good game. That’s a good hockey team and it could have gone either way. McCallum was absolutely outstanding in net, to come in after  having not played for a while.”

McCallum’s last start, his WHL debut, was on Oct. 4 when he allowed three goals on 14 shots in the first period before being pulled in the Tigers 4-2 loss at Regina against the Pats. That start wasn’t easy for McCallum or the Tigers as their bus had a breakdown and they did not arrive at the rink until 20 minutes before warmups. Saturday night he made 29 saves to get that first victory.

Getting another shot, a month to the day from his first start, McCallum was all smiles after the game.

“I’m kind of in the shock right now,” McCallum said. “It was hard battle right till the end, Everett is a good, solid team, we we’re expecting it and the boys came out strong. Definitely a big bounce back after Portland and Lethbridge there but I’m just glad  the guys showed up today at 100 per cent and gave me a chance to win.”

After both teams pushed back and forth throughout the opening period, the Tigers got on the board first.

Captain Tyler MacKenzie batted the puck down on the Tigers blue line and broke with Andrew Basha for a shorthanded breakaway. He passed it over to Basha who scored the Tigers’ seventh shorthanded marker of the season and his fifth on the year.

Medicine Hat’s lead was brief as Everett answered back in the same power play. Just 54 seconds after Basha scored, Beau Courtney one-timed a puck to tie the game up at the 16:21 mark.

That score stood after 20 minutes, with Everett outshooting the Tigers 13-12 after the opening frame.

Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, with the shots a close 12-11 in favour of the Silvertips. After Everett controlled the pace in the second, the Tigers took the game over in the third.

Just 1:27 into the final period, Oasiz Wiesblatt picked up a puck near the boards in the Everett end and sent a pass to Harsanyi in the slot who hammered it home for his first WHL goal and the lead. Tomas Mrsic had the second assist on the memorable goal for Harsanyi, who also recored his first WHL assist in Friday’s loss. Harsanyi credited his line mates and their work for the goal.

“I saw the boys working down low and I’m just had to find the sweet spot there , I saw my opportunity and just put her home, it was pretty special to get that goal,” Harsanyi said.

A mere 17 seconds later, the Tigers struck again. Defenceman Bogdan Hodass picked up a puck in the slot and wired it home for hist first of the season and the 3-1 lead. Wiesblatt and Harsanyi had the assists on the goal, giving both Calgary products two points on the night.

The Tigers continued pressure in the third, not letting Everett make a comeback attempt. They outshot the Silvertips 8-5 in the frame, putting on a defence by offence approach that Wiesblatt liked.

“That’s the one important thing we have to do, when it’s a 1-1 game, someone has to push first and I though we did that well,” Wiesblatt said. “We stuck with each other for the last 60 minutes.”

They sealed the victory with 2:01 left in the game, Hunter St. Martin scored on the empty net for the 4-1 final score. Shane Smith had the lone assist on St. Martin’s fifth goal of the season. Across the ice from McCallum, Tyler Palmer made 27 saves.

The Tigers (10-5-2) finish their three-in-three weekend on Sunday as they head to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings.

“That’s a tough trip to go up, you know the boys will be tired on it so its’ll be a good game and it’ll be tough,” Desjardins said. “We have to regroup but it’ll be a really hard game. If Edmonton took it away from us early, we would expect a real tough game up there.”

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