Tigers pot three in the third to beat Broncos
By James Tubb on December 4, 2024.
A trio of three’s led to a victorious night on the road for the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tigers scored three times in the third period Wednesday night to beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3, notching a third win in a row. Wednesday also marked 20-year-old forward Mat Ward’s return to Swift Current since he was traded to Medicine Hat in the offseason. He played 199 games across five seasons in the green and blue. Swift Current got on the board first with three unanswered goals. Clarke Caswell scored 41 seconds into the contest and Rylan Gould scored 8:08 later for a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Luke Mistelbacher, who assisted on Caswell’s marker, scored 7:55 into the middle stanza for a 3-0 advantage. The Tigers got on the board a little under four minutes later on a power play. Defenceman Josh Van Mulligen worked through defenders from the point, sending a pass to Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. The 16-year-old spun and halfway through the move, passed to Liam Ruck at the side of the net for a one-timer. Medicine Hat rattled off a pair of goals early in the third to tie the game. Markus Ruck picked up the puck along the boards in the Broncos’ end and sent a pass to twin-brother Liam in the slot who scored his second of the game, seventh of the season. The Tigers tied the game up 5:28 into the frame. Gavin McKenna passed the puck from below the goal line to Oasiz Wiesblatt in front of the net for a one-timer and his 12th. Niilopekka Muhonen had the second assist. McKenna’s assist extended his point streak to 12 games. They won the game in the dying seconds on a Hail Mary. Wiesblatt had the puck in his own end and he fired a puck off the end board in the Swift Current end. At the same time, McKenna out-skated a defender to corral the ricochet and fire the puck past Reid Dyck with 16.3 seconds left in the game for the winner. Veeti Väisänen had the second assist on McKenna’s 19th. The Tigers held on to the late lead, handing the Broncos a fifth-straigth loss. Medicine Hat outshot the Broncos 36-22, Jordan Switzer made 18 saves for his eighth win of the year. The Tigers were without defenceman Bryce Pickford Wednesday, scratched with an upper-body injury. The Tigers (16-11-1) are at Lethbridge on Friday to face the Hurricanes. It’s the first matchup with the Highway 3 rival since Lethbridge acquired Brayden Yager and goaltender Jackson Unger from the Moose Jaw Warriors. 15-14
