PHOTO COURTESY Brent Just/Steve Hiscock / Saskatoon Blades
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Tanner Molendyk salutes the crowd in his return to Saskatoon ahead of a 5-3 win over the Blades on Tuesday.
Iron sharpens iron, and it was two former Saskatoon Blades dulling their previous team.
The Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Blades 5-3 Tuesday night, on the back of a game-winning goal from Misha Volotovskii off a point shot from Tanner Molendyk, to beat their former club.
Tuesday night was the first meeting of the clubs since Medicine Hat acquired Molendyk and Volotovskii from Saskatoon. The win, snapping a three-game slide, was the Tigers first victory in Saskatoon since Dec. 10, 2019.
The Blades honoured both Molendyk and Volotovskii for their time in Saskatoon and announced they have re-named their team defenceman of the year award, the Tanner Molendyk award.
Ryder Ritchie opened the scoring 4:35 into the game with his 21st of the season. Gavin McKenna and Oasiz Wiesblatt had the assists, extending McKenna’s point streak to 29 games.
Saskatoon tied the game up late in the first and grabbed a brief 2-1 lead early in the second with a goal from Hayden Harsanyi, the former Tiger sent the other way in the January blockbuster.
Tigers scored twice in the second period, with Markus Ruck scoring on a rush chance. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the assist on Ruck’s seventh of the season. Wiesblatt recorded his 25th of the season later in the frame to lead 3-2 after 20, McKenna had an assist.
After the Blades scored on a power play at 12:42, the Tigers rattled off a pair of goals in 2:40.
Volotovskii redirected a shot from Molendyk at the point for his sixth goal of the season and second as a Tiger. McKenna tallied the insurance marker, with Wiesblatt picking up the assists on the 17-year-old’s 29th on the season.
The Tigers held on for the 5-3 win, outshooting the Blades 43-18.
Harrison Meneghin made 15 saves for his 15th win. Across from him, Ethan McCallum made 38 saves in his first start against his former club.
Medicine Hat went scoreless on their lone power play, Saskatoon was 1-3 with the man advantage.
The Tigers (34-16-3-1) head to Prince Albert on Wednesday to battle the Raiders for the second time in a week. They lost 5-4 in overtime on Saturday to the East division leaders.
That game is the featured contest of the WHL’s Wednesday Night in the Dub. It will be streamed live on YouTube, puck drop at 6 p.m. MST.
Game notes
Attendance: 3,754
Three stars
First star: MH Gavin McKenna (1G, 2A)
Second star: MH Oasiz Wiesblatt (1G, 1A)
Third star: SAS Ethan McCallum (38 saves)
