SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS JUSTIN SEWARD
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck carries the puck into the Hurricanes' end in the first period of WHL action Friday at Lethbridge.
The Medicine Hat Tigers got comeback retribution over four months in the making.
The Tigers scored four times in the third period Friday, ultimately beating the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-5 in overtime to complete the comeback and recorded a seventh win in a row.
Friday’s win comes over four months after the Tigers had a 6-3 lead halfway through the game, ultimately falling 7-6 in Lethbridge. The victory, their first in Lethbridge this season, gives Medicine Hat the 4-3 edge in the season series with the Highway 3 rival and keeps the Tigers in first place of the Eastern conference.
Five Tigers had multi point nights, led by forward Gavin McKenna with a goal and three assists. Defenceman Tanner Molendyk had two helpers with an assist, captain Oasiz Wiesblatt had two goals, including the game winner, and an assist, Liam Ruck had a goal and an assist and Veeti Väisänen had two helpers.
As exciting as the end of the game was, the opening period was an electric factory that would have been eligible for the carbon tax. The first period saw just a handful of whistles as play went back-and-forth, with Lethbridge outshooting the Tigers 13-7.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring with a pair of goals early in the middle frame.
Defenceman Noah Chadwick kicked things off with his 13th of the season for a 1-0 lead 1:12 into the frame. Just 41 seconds later, Cooper Gizowski scored his first of the night on a tic-tac-toe play for the 2-0 lead.
Medicine Hat responded less than a minute later, with a tap-in goal from Liam Ruck off a net-front pass from Wiesblatt. McKenna had the second assist on Ruck’s 23rd, extending his CHL-leading point streak to 37 games with the helper. That streak is tied for the second-longest streak in the CHL since 2000, the same length Pittsburgh Penguins’ star Sidney Crosby had with the Rimouski Oceanic in 2004-05.
Lethbridge rounded out the frame with a power play goal from Miguel Marques for a 3-1 lead at the 12:38 mark and after 40 minutes. Entering play Friday, the Hurricanes were 24-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
The Hurricanes appeared to seal off all the momentum in the VisitLethbridge.Com Arena with an early third period goal as Gizowski scored 1:12 into the frame for the 4-1 lead. Like the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs, the Hurricanes couldn’t hold onto the 4-1 lead.
Medicine Hat started the clawback a little under two minutes after Gizowski scored his 17th. Molendyk carried the puck from his end into Lethbridge’s, scoring short-side on Jackson Unger for his seventh on the year. Markus and Liam Ruck had the assists.
The Tigers scored 1:22 later, with McKenna carrying the puck into the Lethbridge end. He danced around the zone with the puck, dishing off to Väisänen at the point who blasted a shot on net, creating a rebound that McKenna knocked in for his 34th. Hunter St. Martin had the second assist.
The goal run continued as Wiesblatt scored just under three minutes later, firing off a wrist shot that beat Unger for the 4-4 tie just 6:21 after they scored to lead 4-1. McKenna and Väisänen had the assists on Wiesblatt’s first.
They grabbed a lead five seconds before the halfway mark of the third period, with a re-directed goal from Kadon McCann in his first game back from injury. Ethan Neutens came off the bench and blasted a shot from the point that McCann tipped in for his 11th, Molendyk had the second helper. McCann returned after missing four games with an upper body injury, his first games missed since novice hockey.
While the comeback story wrote itself, the Hurricanes re-ignited their home crowd 3:30 later, with Marques firing home a puck that bounced off the end boards for his second of the night, tying the game up at 5-5. That was the last shot to beat Tigers’ starter Harrison Meneghin who made 31 saves against his former club.
Neither team could finish the game in regulation with Lethbridge outshooting the Tigers 35-32 in regulation.
It only took 1:56 into the final frame for the captain to call game.
Molendyk carried the puck into the Hurricanes end, getting caught up by a checking Hurricane before dishing off to Wiesblatt at the top of the circles. He skated in and wired home his second of the night, 33rd of the season and ninth game winning goal of the season. McKenna had the second assist.
Unger finished with 28 saves in the Lethbridge net, the Hurricanes outshot Medicine Hat 2-1 in the overtime frame. The face-off battle was won by the Hurricanes 24-19 and neither team scored on their lone power plays.
The Tigers (44-17-3-2) head back to Co-op Place to host Red Deer for their final game of the season against the Rebels.
