NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna celebrates his 'Michigan' goal in the third period of a 6-1, Game 3 win Wednesday at Prince Albert's Art Hauser Centre. With the win, the Tigers take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with the Raiders.
PRINCE ALBERT
The Medicine Hat Tigers put themselves fully in the drivers seat Wednesday night.
The Tigers scored four unanswered goals to win 6-1 at Prince Albert over the Raiders, taking a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. It’s the first time the Tigers have held a 3-0 series lead since 2017 when they swept the Brandon Wheat Kings in the first round.
“It’s huge to get one on the road and go up 3-0 but with that being said, the last game is hardest to win,” forward Hunter St. Martin said following a three-point night. “They’re going to come hard tomorrow and we need to be prepared to play the same way we played tonight, just a team game, full effort. That’s all we can do, just controlling what we can control.”
The Tigers didn’t wait long to open the scoring.
Just 58 seconds into the opening frame, St. Martin picked up the puck in the Raider end and with a curl and a drag, wired a top shelf on Hildebrand for the 1-0 lead just 58 seconds into the game. Marcus Pacheco and Mat Ward had the assists on St. Martin’s third of the playoffs.
Medicine Hat outshot the Raiders nine to eight in the first period. The Tigers scored three straight in the middle frame, ending the stanza with a 4-1 lead.
Only a little over the first-minute mark of the middle stanza, Mat Ward was sent on a one-on-one where he unleashed a laser to beat the Raiders’ overage net minder with his second of the postseason to make it a 2-0 Medicine Hat lead 1:22 into the period. Pickford and St. Martin had the assists.
They added to the tally with a pair of goals in the middle of the frame, scoring twice in 1:15 span.
On a power play as a result of a Matteo Fabrizi hit to the head penalty, Veeti Väisänen had the puck at the point. He skated in and unleashed a shot from the near-corner that beat Hildebrand for his first WHL playoff goal and the 3-0 lead at 14:04. Oasiz Wiesblatt and Ryder Ritchie had the assists, the helper extending Wiesblatt’s point streak to 17 games.
They struck again, capitalizing on a two-on-one. Pacheco carried the puck up the left side of the ice and he sent a pass to Tanner Molendyk for a one-timer that beat the Raider net minder for the 4-0 lead at 15:19. St. Martin, with his third helper of the game, had the second assist on Molendyk’s first goal of the playoffs.
Before the period ended, the Raiders got on the board.
A whistle blew with 25 seconds left in the frame, which appeared to send the game to a late media timeout but instead play resumed with a face-off in the Tigers’ zone.
Aiden Oiring won the face-off, Daxon Rudolph passed to the point for Lukas Dragicevic who fluttered a shot on net that beat Harrison Meneghin with 21 seconds left in the middle stanza. His sixth of the playoffs made it a 4-1 Medicine Hat lead after 40 minutes with the Tigers outshooting Prince Albert 19-14.
That marker was the lone blemish on Meneghin’s night, picking up his sixth win of the playoffs with 21 saves.
Head coach Willie Desjardins says scoring the opening goal in every period helped lead the way.
“It was huge, they scored the one late in the second, that worried me,” Desjardins said. “They have a good club, they play hard in the third. So to get the one to start the third, that was a big goal for us. They had chances tonight, they just didn’t go in, and our chances went in.”
The Tigers kicked off the scoring for a third straight period, with another highlight reel goal from McKenna.
The 17-year-old superstar, already went viral for a basketball-like goal in the Tigers’ 5-4 OT win in Game 2 on Saturday, hit a ‘Michigan’ goal from behind the Raiders’ net for the 5-1 lead 1:16 into the final frame. He’s tried the lacrosse-style goal multiple times throughout the season, finally finding twine.
“It was pretty satisfying to get that one,” McKenna said. “I had a little bit more time this time, so a little bit more time to scoop it up and saw some room over the shoulder and put it in.”
His sixth goal of the playoffs extended his CHL-leading point streak to 48 games. McKenna’s goal chased Hildebrand who finished with 16 saves. Dimitri Fortin took over for the second time in the series, making seven stops. The highlight-reel goal was followed up by Ritchie who scored 3:56 later.
The former Raider unleashed a laser of a shot in the slot, putting a final nail in the coffin of Game 3 for the 6-1 score 5:12 into the final frame. McKenna had the lone assist for his third point of the night.
The Tigers outshot Prince Albert 29-22 with the Raiders winning the face-off battle 26-20. Medicine Hat was 1-3 on the power play, Raiders held scoreless on three man advantages.
Medicine Hat will look to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2014. Head coach Willie Desjardins says they’ll be in for a fight trying to close out the series on the road.
“It’s been a really hard series, you look at the first games and they could have gone either way,” Desjardins said. “You look at tonight, it was just our chances. So it was great to see the guys battle but we know we have to battle against this team because they’re not going to give us anything. So we have to keep going on it and tomorrow’s a new game.”
