NEWS FILE PHOTO
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Marcus Pacheco skates towards the Tiger bench to celebrate a first period goal in a 7-4 loss at Co-op Place to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 7.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers get set for their last three-game weekend of the season.
With 11 games left on the schedule, the Tigers will scratch three off the slate with a trio of contests, starting tonight at Co-op Place against the Edmonton Oil Kings. They’ll host the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday before heading to Edmonton on Sunday for the final matchup of the season with the Central division opponent.
“Every game is a playoff game with the division and the conference being so tight, every night is critical,” associate coach Joe Frazer said heading into the weekend. “That’s all you have, you can only take it a game at a time. We can’t worry about the three-in-three, we have to worry about Friday night, make sure we are the best we can be, then go from there.”
The Tigers have split the first six meetings with Edmonton, with the two teams trading wins to a 3-3 record entering the weekend. There’s also been some bad blood between the two teams, with both teams averaging 42 penalty minutes per game this season.
The last game between the two clubs at Co-op Place, a 7-4 Oil King win on Dec. 7, saw forward Gavin McKenna take a two-hand slash to the knee and goaltender Jordan Switzer get ran twice, prompting the Tigers to acquire a third goaltender. It’s a matchup forward Marcus Pacheco says adds fuel to the fire.
“We like those games a lot, it gets us pretty hyped up for those games,” Pacheco said. “It makes us bring our best to both sides.”
“They have depth and they work hard, it’ll be a tough matchup for us and we’re not going to take them lightly.”
McKenna enters the weekend with his CHL-leading point streak at 32 games, also resting on 99 points on the season. When he reaches the century mark, McKenna will be the first Tiger to 100 points since Chad Butcher tallied 27 goals and 103 points in 68 games in 2016-17.
Medicine Hat (37-16-3-1) remains in first place of the Eastern conference and the Central division, three points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen (35-15-3-2) who clinched a playoff spot Wednesday, still with two fewer games played. Edmonton (30-20-2-2) sits seventh in the East, a point back of the sixth-seed Saskatoon Blades (29-18-3-4) and two behind the fifth placed Prince Albert Raiders (31-19-3-1).
Pacheco says he takes the odd peek at the WHL standings but hasn’t started scoreboard watching as playoffs near. He says the focus remains more on picking up much needed points.
“All these games at the end of this season are big, it’s those points that really count,” Pacheco said. “You look back at them when you’re going into playoffs and say, ‘Oh, that could have got us into a better position.’ But we know that already and that’s how we’re looking at it.”
The Blazers (20-30-4), the Tigers’ opponent Saturday, are three points out of a playoff spot and on the verge of missing the postseason for a second-straight season.
The Blazers feature former Tiger Oren Shtrom who has put together a career season in his overage year, with 13 goals and 31 points in 50 games played entering Friday.
Pacheco last played the Blazers on Dec. 27, 2023, more recent than the Tigers who beat Kamloops 4-0 on Oct. 20 that same year.
“The B.C. division is always good, no matter if they come here or we go there, it’s always a good matchup,” the former Kelowna Rocket said. “The Blazers always play fast, they’re hard to play against and have good depth.”
