Tigers beat Rockets to take Yukon Showcase opener

By James Tubb on September 12, 2025.

Medicine Hat News

The Medicine Hat Tigers put on a show Friday night in the first game of the Yukon Showcase.

The Tigers beat the Kelowna Rockets 8-4 to win the first of the two-game preseason set hosted in Whitehorse’s Tahkini Arena.

Medicine Hat opened the scoring with a pair in the first.

Dub Eunice III scored his first goal of the preseason, finding the back of the net at the hashmarks for a 1-0 lead 2:23 into the game. Bryaden Ryan-MacKay and Misha Volotovskii had the assists.

They grabbed a two-goal lead with a breakaway goal from Markus Ruck, finding the back of the net in his first preseason game. Liam Ruck and Kade Stengrim had the assists as the Tigers led 2-0 at 9:48.

Kelowna responded with a pair of goals to tie the game up at 2-2. Kanjyu Gojsic and Owen Folstrom scored within 31 seconds of one another to tie the game.

Medicine Hat grabbed a late lead in the first period with a net-front goal off a pass from Dayton Reschny, giving the Tigers the 3-2 advantage after 20 minutes. Noah Davidson had the second assist.

Kelowna opened the second period with a goal past the halfway mark as Daniel Pekar scored at 12:19 to tie the game up at 3-3.

The Tigers rattled off four unanswered goals to lead 7-3 after 40 minutes of play.

Yaroslav Bryzgalov scored on a wraparound, muscling his way to the front of the net for the 4-3 lead at 14:10. Zack Nieckar fired a shot from the blue line that beat Kelowna’s Jake Pilon at 15:02 for the 5-3 lead. Cunningham and Davidson had the assists.

Liam Ruck had the puck behind the Kelowna net, passing to Davidson all alone in front and the Irvine, Calif. product scored his first preseason goal in his first game as a Tigers.

They finished the period off with a breakaway goal from Gavin Kor, his first of the preseason. Nieckar had the lone assist as the Tigers led 7-3.

Both teams scored in the third for an 8-4 final.

The Tigers found themselves on a five-on-three power play in the last five minutes of the third period and scored with a laser of a shot from Liam Ruck. Markus Ruck and Tyson Moss had the assists as the Tigers led 8-3 with 3:21 left in the third.

Kelowna scored the final goal of the game with Eli Barrett scoring on a backhand shot in front of Carter Casey for the 8-4 final.

The Tigers outshot Kelowna 34-29. Casey, making his preseason debut, made 25 saves in the win for the Tigers. Pilon made 20 saves, Nathan Kim worked the third period for the Rockets and made six saves.

Medicine Hat is the home team on Saturday for the second and final game of the Yukon Showcase. A Tigers’ win and they’ll capture the WHL Northern Lights Cup. That game gets underway at 8 p.m. MST and can be streamed for free on Victory+.

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