PERRY BERGSON THE BRANDON SUN
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Cayden Lindstrom races down the ice with the puck as Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Quinn Mantei tries to block his path to the net during the first period of their Western Hockey League game at Westoba Place on Saturday.
A special night for Ethan McCallum was bookmarked with a win for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
McCallum recorded the win between the pipes on his home town of Brandon, as the Tigers beat the Wheat Kings 3-2 Saturday night. The 17-year-old net minder made 25 saves for his second win of the season, doing so with friends and family in attendance.
Medicine Hat entered the contest off a 6-3 loss Tuesday at Swift Current against the Broncos.
The Tigers opened the scoring Saturday night.
Medicine Hat had a breakaway attempt with Cayden Lindstrom and Hunter St. Martin getting touches before Carson Bjarnason stopped the attempt and Tyler Mackenzie, at the side of the net, knocked in the loose puck to jump ahead 1-0.
The Wheat Kings rebounded from MacKenzie’s 11th of the season, scoring only 50 seconds later to tie it up. Nate Danielson, the 2023 ninth overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings, capitalized on a net front turnover and scored his fifth of the season.
Oasiz Wiesblatt, who committed the turnover leading to the goal, had a redemption shift 1:15 later. The 19-year-old picked up a puck in the neutral zone and skated into Brandon’s end on a rush and put the puck on net for Hayden Harsanyi to knock it in to re-gain the lead for the Tigers. Gavin McKenna had the second assist on Harsanyi’s second goal on the season
The Tigers got on the board again in the second period, capitalizing on a power play. Wiesblatt had the puck in the face-off circle to the left of Bjarnason and threaded a pass to Lindstrom in the crease who did not have to do a lot with the puck, knocking it in for a 3-1 lead. McKenna again had the second assist, setting up Lindstrom’s team leading 16th goal on the year.
Besides a centre ice heavy weight bout between Tigers’ defenceman Rhett Parsons and Wheat Kings’ forward Matt Henry, the second period was a split frame with Medicine Hat leading on the scoreboard and in shots, 29-16 through 40 minutes.
Brandon made the game interesting early in the third period. Jayden Weins wired a shot up and over McCallum’s shoulder from a sharp angle to cut Medicine Hat’s lead to 3-2 5:45 into the final frame.
The Tigers held on and weathered pushes from the Wheat Kings, with a late power play providing their best chance. A loose puck hung around McCallum before it was smothered and blown down. Medicine Hat kept the Wheat Kings at bay late and secured the 3-2 win, their 14th victory of the season.
Across the ice from McCallum, Bjarnason made 32 saves in his 16th appearance of the season.
The Tigers (14-6-2) are back in action Wednesday when they host the Regina Pats at Co-op Place.
