Tigers grab 2-0 series lead with OT win Sunday

By James Tubb on April 13, 2025.

It’s the end result that matters in sport and for the Medicine Hat Tigers, it’s a 2-0 series lead.

The Tigers led 2-0 after 40 miniutes Sunday evening before trading a total of six goals in the third period with the Prince Albert Raiders to send Game 2 of the second-round series to overtime where Medicine Hat won 5-4. They lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after a 6-4 Game 1 win on Saturday, both at Co-op Place.

“We played really good in overtime, I thought we played good lots of the game,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “They played better tonight, for sure, they have a good team. They played hard, they got a couple shots and they scored on them late. But overall, I thought our guys were resilient and I really liked our overtime.”

For the first time in the series, the Tigers opened the scoring.

On a power play in the last five minutes of the period, Bryce Pickford fired a shot on net that Oasiz Wiesblatt tipped past Max Hildebrand for the 1-0 lead at 16:24. Tanner Molendyk had the second assist on Wiesblatt’s ninth of the playoffs.

The game was tied in shots 7-7 after 20 minutes.

On a Tiger power play early in the second period, Molendyk was hit from behind into the boards with no penalty on the play. He gingerly went to the bench but returned on a separate, later penalty kill. It was Medicine Hat who capitalized on that penalty with a highlight-reel goal.

Gavin McKenna picked up the puck in the neutral zone and flew up ice on a two-on-two. Inside the Raider end, he spun clockwise before stopping and spinning the other direction. After clearing space, he wired a cross-body shot that beat Hildebrand glove side for the 2-0 lead at 6:51 and sending the 5,242 in attendance into a fury.

McKenna says he’s tried moves like that on an outdoor rink back home in Whitehorse but not the full move he pulled off Sunday.

“I saw a little bit of a two-on- two and I just tried to it behind my back to get him moving one way and then turn the other way,” McKenna recounted. “I just saw a shooting lane, shot it and it went in.”

His fourth of the playoffs put the Tigers ahead 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Prince Albert got on the board to start a wild third period. Off a face-off in the Medicine Hat end, Linden Barrett unleashed a laser that beat Jordan Switzer to make it a 2-1 game at 9:46. Evan Smith had the lone assist.

Medicine Hat responded with Mat Ward’s first of the playoffs. After sustained pressure in the Prince Albert end, the 20-year-old skated in on Hildebrand and went backhand, forehand to beat the net minder with his first of the playoffs. Kadon McCann and Ethan Neutens had the assists.

The Raiders drew within one again, with a power play tap-in goal from Harrison Lodewyk at 12:17. Riley Boychuk and Justice Christensen tallied the assists.

McKenna put the Tigers ahead by two briefly with a shorthanded, breakaway goal with 2:15 left in the third period for his second shorthanded marker of the night and fifth of the series. Molendyk and Wiesblatt picked up the helpers on the goal.

Prince Albert, for a third time, drew within one as Niall Crocker scored on the same power play McKenna did, to make it a 4-3 game with 1:37 left in the game. Brayden Dube and Rudolph had the assists.

The Raiders tied the game up, with Hildebrand on the bench, as Riley Kovacevic scored his first of the playoffs. The former Moose Jaw Warrior wired a shot from the high slot to make it a 4-4 score with 1:02 left in the third period. Aiden Oiring had the lone assist as the game headed to overtime.

Despite the loss, Raiders’ interim head coach Ryan McDonald liked the continued resiliency he’s seen from his team in the playoffs.

“The gutsy effort to continue to fight and to continue to push,” McDonald said. “Our first period where we continue to keep the shots to a minimum and we had our opportunities to score as well too. Just good details throughout and a really good push in the third where we come to life and get pucks in behind and get on the forecheck.”

The Tigers were able to capitalize in the extra frame on a power play following a dangerous hit by the Raiders.

Jonas Woo went to play the puck in the neutral zone and was hit from behind into the boards by Lodewyk. The defenceman was tended to by Medicine Hat training staff but eventually left the game on his own power while the Raider forward received a two-minute minor for boarding. Desjardins says they will have to evaluate Woo before providing an update.

On the ensuing power play, Pickford fired a shot on net that Liam Ruck tipped home for his second of the playoffs and the 5-4 game winner at 8:50. Molendyk had the second assist for his third helper of the night. The 17-year-old says associate coach Joe Frazer drew up the play and it unfolded as the marker showed on the whiteboard.

“Picks’ just walked down, put it right on my tape and all I had to do was tip it in,” Ruck said.

Switzer picked up his second win of the WHL playoffs with 27 saves. Across the ice from him, Hildebrand made 33 saves. The Tigers outshot the Raiders 38-31. Both teams were 2-6 on the power play, Medicine Hat won the face-off battle 42-40.

Game 3 of the series goes Wednesday in Prince Albert at the Art Hauser Centre.

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