Medicine Hat Tigers' goaltender Zach Zahara makes a glove save in the first period Saturday at Co-op Place in a 4-1 win over the Wenatchee Wild.-- NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Four straight wins and a weekend sweep have the Medicine Hat Tigers atop the Western Hockey League.
The Tigers have acquired the most points of the 22-team league with a record of 13-5-2 following a 2-1 shootout win Friday at Moose Jaw over the Warriors and a 4-1 victory Saturday at Co-op Place over the newly minted Wenatchee Wild. The four-game streak is their longest string of success since the 2019-20 season.
They have played two more games than the Saskatoon Blades and Prince George Cougars who both trail the Tigers by two points, but a first-place standing even early in the season can be a shot of confidence to build from.
“There’s nothing better than winning, that’s what we strive to do every week and that’s what we put our mindset to,” forward Oasiz Wiesblatt said. “We work hard during the week to get ready for these games, and workouts after the games and getting team workouts in during the week, that gets us a little closer together. We’ll just keep doing that and sticking together to be a family.”
Wiesblatt had the eventual game-winning goal Saturday night and added another assist later in the game on Hunter St. Martin’s sixth of the season for his ninth multi-point game of the season.
Andrew Basha (seven goals) and Kadon McCann (three goals) also found the back of the net, and Zach Zahara made 34 saves in the win over the former Winnipeg Ice franchise. Getting the win over the team who eliminated them in the playoffs last year, even though it comes in the regular season and with new colours, was a check mark on the Tigers’ list of goals for the year.
“We had them on our mind for a while now,” Wiesblatt said. “They eliminated us in the playoffs, so our team responded well with some firepower. We capitalized on some chances and obviously Zach stood on his head today.”
Zahara picked up his fourth win of the season while making only his second start, his other two victories coming in relief. It was a start the 18-year-old credited his team for making easier by taking away Wenatchee’s strength.
“They’re a super skilled team, so our game plan heading in was to shut them down off the rush because that’s where they get most of their chances,” Zahara said.
The Tigers’ last four wins have come with all three goaltenders chipping in. Evan May was in net in Friday’s win and was between the pipes on Nov. 5 against the Oil Kings. Ethan McCallum picked up his first WHL win a day prior, beating the Everett Silvertips to start the streak.
Associate coach Joe Frazer says there is a lot of confidence with any of the three names being penciled into the starting slot come game days.
“The four games our goalies have probably been our best players, which is awesome,” Frazer said. “We’re getting timely scoring and all three goalies have played extremely well, so it’s great to see.”
May’s performance Friday earned him the WHL’s top goaltender of the week award. The Nanaimo product had 34 saves against the Warriors and turned aside four of five Moose Jaw shootout chances.
The weekend’s wins come against two teams who sit in the top three of their respective conferences, Wenatchee tied for third and Moose Jaw in third. Frazer described the two-game set and the four points as a big weekend for the club.
“It’s great we found ways to win both nights (against) two tough teams,” Frazer said. “You want to find ways to win, there’s areas where we can get better which is exciting.”
The Tigers head into a week of road contests. They’re at Swift Current tonight to face the Broncos and head to Brandon on Saturday for their first matchup of the season against the Wheat Kings. Those improvements they can make in their game comes down to game management and situational awareness Frazer says.
“When we have a lead, just staying disciplined, staying out of the box, and when we have the lead, making the right plays instead of forcing some things and trying to score still,” Frazer said. “Just those little things. It’s mostly when we have the lead, just making sure we’re playing the right way and keeping it honest.”
