NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll celebrates his opening goal in the first period of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Championship series Friday at Medicine HatÕs Co-op Place against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Tigers put five on the board in their first game in eight days, giving up just two goals on 19 shots en route to a 5-2 Game 1 win.
The Medicine Hat Tigers jumped out to a quick lead and an early advantage in the Eastern Conference championship series.
They scored twice in the first three minutes of Game 1 Friday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, winning 5-2 at Co-op Place for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Head coach Willie Desjardins credits his team for the quick start.
“It’s big, Lethbridge comes in, they just had a tough series so it’s a little bit tough for them because that was a hard Calgary series, so we had a little bit of an advantage,” Desjardins said. “We got a good start, I thought we played good. They’re a good hockey team, they won’t give you anything and they’ll battle all the way. It’s going to be tough, like, really tough, you can tell by looking at them, they have a veteran team that’s going to play hard.”
Lethbridge came into the game off one days rest, winning Game 7 of the second-round series with the Calgary Hitmen, on Wednesday. The Tigers had eight days rest after sweeping the Prince Albert Raiders on April 17.
Hurricanes associate coach Matt Anholt says the lack of days off isn’t an excuse but something they’ll have to bounce back from.
“It’s a tough schedule for us, just getting off that hard series and coming in here, it’s no excuse but it’s hard with how long of a break they had,” Anholt said. “You could tell they had a lot more jump than us tonight, so we just have to process a little faster, move the puck faster. We need guys to want the puck and just be able to play quicker.”
The Tigers opened the scoring with a fury in the first period, much to the delight of the 5,680 in attendance.
Just 2:17 into the game, the Tiger’s young line carried the puck up ice. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll carried the puck into the Lethbridge end, dropping off to Markus Ruck. The older of the Ruck-twin duo dished cross ice to a streaking Gordon-Carroll who blasted home his second of the playoffs, making it a 1-0 lead. Tanner Molendyk Had the second assist.
“It was big for my line to come out strong and then Gavin, Oasiz and Rich to come out strong right after, it’s big and we were able to just feed off each other,” Gordon-Carroll said.
The Tigers’ top line struck just six seconds later with a milestone marker.
Off the face-off at centre ice, Gavin McKenna carried the puck into the Lethbridge end and passed to Ryder Ritchie who sent it right back to the 17-year-old. He fired a shot on net that beat Unger for the 2-0 lead, giving McKenna points in 50 straight games. That stretch of games ties the CHL’s longest point streak since 2000, equaling Alexander Radulov who reached the mark with the Quebec Remparts in 2005-06. McKenna says it’s a special mark but one that won’t hit home until the season ends.
“It’s pretty cool to be cemented in the record books, after the year I’ll look back at this year and think it was a pretty great year with all those milestones, McKenna said. “But the one thing we’re all trying to get is that championship. So we’re focused on that, and after the year, that’s when I’ll kind of look back and think about how cool some of those accomplishments were.”
Oasiz Wiesblatt, winning the face-off at centre ice, had the second assist on McKenna’s seventh of the playoffs.
Lethbridge responded less than four minutes later. Harrison Meneghin made the initial save on a shot off the rush but the rebound found its way to the high slot where Logan Warmold fired a shot that beat the former Hurricane to make it a 2-1 game at 6:17. Brayden Edwards and Logan McCutcheon had the assists on Warmold’s fifth of the playoffs.
The Tigers ended the frame with a goal, as the captain stuck twine. Wiesblatt carried the puck up ice, dropping to McKenna inside the Lethbridge blue line before he dished to Ritchie near the net. He dropped to Wiesblatt who scored his 11th of the post season, making it a 3-1 lead for Medicine Hat at 9:29.
They held that lead after 20 minutes, outshooting the Hurricanes 16-6 in the period. The Tigers struck again to start the middle stanza.
Ritchie had the puck in the Hurricanes’ end and he skated toward Unger, deking his way through defenders before reaching around the net minder and depositing the puck into the net for the 4-1 lead 6:34 into the frame. Wiesblatt and Josh Van Mulligen had the assists on Ritchie’s seventh of the playoffs.
The Tigers scored again, getting in front of Unger to go ahead 5-1 at 11:39. Jonas Woo unleashed a shot on net that bounced off Ethan Neutens and squeaked through the Lethbridge net minder, for his first goal of the postseason. Bryce Pickford had the second helper.
Unger was pulled after the second media timeout in the period, allowing five goals on 22 shots. Koen Cleaver took over in net, stopping all 14 shots he faced.
The Hurricanes got the final tally of the period, capitalizing on a four-minute power play. Wiesblatt was called for a double-minor slew foot penalty and the Tigers killed off the first half of the penalty. But just as the clock ticked into the second half of the infraction, Brayden Yager hammered a one-timer past Meneghin to make it a 5-2 game at 16:11. Warmold and Caden Price had the assists on Yager’s seventh of the playoffs.
Meneghin finished his night with 17 saves, picking up his seventh win of the playoffs.
The Tigers held off the Hurricanes in the third period, outshooting them 8-5 in the frame and 36-19 in the game. Medicine Hat went scoreless on four power plays, Lethbridge capitalized on one of their five man advantages. Medicine Hat had a slight advantage in the face-off dot, 33-32.
Medicine Hat hosts the Hurricanes for Game 2 on Saturday back at Co-op Place, looking for a 2-0 start for the third straight series. Lethbridge looks to avoid falling behind 2-0 in a series for the first time these playoffs.
“We knew they’d be good, they don’t give you a lot, they play hard so it’s going to be a tough game,” Desjardins said. “We have to keep working. If we don’t work, we’re going to be in trouble.”
