PHOTO COURTESY KEITH HERSHMILLER PHOTOGRAPHY/REGINA PATS
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Jordan Switzer makes one of his 36 saves in a 2-0, shut-out win Friday at Regina over the Pats.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ net minders did more than mind the pipes this weekend.
The Tigers picked up two shutout wins on the road this weekend, with Jordan Switzer making 36 stops in a 2-0 win Friday at Regina against the Pats, before Harrison Meneghin made 26 saves in a 5-0 win Saturday at Brandon over the Wheat Kings.
It’s a tandem Marcus Pacheco says has allowed them to play with a free feeling.
“The confidence they give you to make plays or just allow shots and just play your game, it’s huge for everyone,” Pacheco said. “That’s a big part of what allows us to play offensively and be so aggressive in the offensive zone, the neutral zone and ultimately the D-zone, to create all of that.”
The weekend put the two net minders in the top five of WHL goals against average, Meneghin leading the pack (2.61) and Switzer in third (2.67). They’re both top five in shutouts, Switzer in second with four and Meneghin tied for fourth with three on the season.
“It helps when you have a good goalie partner in Switzer, he’s just a good guy to be around and it’s special watching him play,” Meneghin said. “He’s an unbelievable goalie, unbelievable person. It’s nice to kind of have that guy when you’re having success because he’s happy for you as well.”
Switzer shared the sentiment of his older goaltending partner, pumping the tires of the 20-year-old and speaking on their work together like they’ve worked alongside each other for decades.
“Every time I’m doing well he’s there patting me on the back, telling me I’m doing really well and that’s really key for us,” Switzer said. “We have a good bond, he’s such a great guy. Especially a goalie like that, you want to see him do well because next year, he’ll probably be somewhere in the NHL or AHL, so there’s a lot to learn from a goalie like him.”
It’s a goaltending duo associate coach Joe Frazer says is an example of how a competitive but healthy relationship works in sports.
“Whenever we have a shutout going into the third you can always hear who’s ever not playing on the bench, making sure we’re doing it for the other guy in net, so they’re always pulling for each other,” Frazer said. “They compete against each other, it’s healthy and they’re pushing each other to be better. Because they’re always cheering for each other, they want the other guy to be their absolute best.”
While Meneghin has more than lived up to the title of being the Tigers’ starter, it’s Switzer who has stole some attention the last few weeks and now has himself on the edge of team and league history.
Friday’s shutout was Switzer’s third straight blank spot, totalling 209:43 of shutout hockey. He’s just 16:06 away from breaking the Tigers’ shutout minutes record, set by Kevin Nastiuk in 2004.
He is 55:30 away from breaking the WHL’s shutout minutes string set by Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers in 1967-68. A shutout in his next start would see him tie the league’s longest shutout string in games, also held by Worthy and more recently, Calgary Hitmen net minder Daniel Hauser, who recorded his fourth-straight shutout on Sunday. He has a shutout streak of 243:23.
Switzer isn’t getting too excited about the potential for breaking records, he’s just looking to help the Tigers’ record.
“It’s just the two points at the end of the day, I don’t really look at records or streaks,” Switzer said. “Some people used to tell me, back in my NAX days, that I had streaks, but I don’t really think that really applies to anything. Just be where your feet are and continue to the next game.”
The Edmonton product could get a chance as soon as tonight when the Tigers host the Kelowna Rockets at Co-op Place. The 2026 Memorial Cup hosts have had a miserable start to their Central division trip, falling 10-2 to the Red Deer Rebels on Friday before falling 7-0 to Calgary on Sunday in Hauser’s record-tying shutout.
Kelowna is five games – four losses and an OT win – removed from 15-game losing streak. Medicine Hat will be without forward Gavin McKenna who will serve the final game of his three-contest suspension.
It’s also the first time Pacheco and forward Ethan Neutens will face their former club. Pacheco, acquired from Kelowna on Dec. 31, 2023, says it’s an almost completely different team than he remembers.
“There’s only a couple guys that I still know, and three of them are hurt, so I won’t see them, but it’ll still be awesome and playing against them will be huge,” Pacheco said. “I think for me and Ethan, it’ll be a great day.”
Neutens was acquired by the Tigers on Nov. 14, with defenceman Nate Corbet going to Kelowna in the trade. There’s no bad blood between him and the Rockets but he’s looking forward to the game and more importantly, the win.
“It’s not just playing friends but also you get to play against your former coaching staff,” Neutens said. “I’m just happy to have a good experience here, I’m excited to be a Tiger and just to take it to them.”
With the weekend wins, the Tigers became the second WHL club to cross the 40-win plateau. They remain in first place of the Eastern conference and Central division with a 41-17-3-1 record.
The Tigers also finish February with a 7-2-1-1 record in the month.
It gives them a modest two-point lead over the Hitmen, who have played two fewer games and sport a 39-15-3-3 record.
