NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo carries the puck out of the Tigers' defensive end in the first period of a 4-1 win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Saskatoon Blades.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers are still working through things starting the season.
The Tigers split their first two-game weekend, beginning with a 6-3 loss Friday at Swift Current that saw them surrender six unanswered goals to the Broncos. They were able to respond Saturday at Co-op Place in a 4-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades.
Head coach Willie Desjardins liked their efforts Saturday and even Friday. He saw both games as ones the Tigers could have won or loss. He’s looking for more as they get the ball rolling on the year.
“Both games were close, I thought we played good enough in Swift to win as well but we have a lot of work to do,” Desjardins said. “We’re making mistakes we can’t make. Is it expected early? Maybe. But we need to get better at it.”
They led both games in shots over the weekend, saw two different versions of the penalty kill, with two power play goals against Friday before holding the Blades scoreless on five man advantages. The power play went a combined 0-7 on the weekend and sits third last on the season, running at 11.1 per cent.
The improvements Desjardins is looking for aren’t due to chemistry, he says players haven’t been challenged enough due to the number of injuries they’ve been dealing with.
“It’s realizing how hard the league is and how hard you have to play, there’s no shifts off,’ Desjardins said. “We had guys coasting and they just can’t coast, the league just doesn’t allow it.
“We are thin right now or guys would lose spots. This is their chance, so they better capitalize on the chance.”
The Tigers played with a barebones lineup throughout the weekend, with forward Carter Cunningham suspended for the two games from a cross-check major in their Sept. 20 season-opening win over the Regina Pats. They were also without forwards Gavin Kor, Ethan Neutens, Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen, all due to injury.
Reinforcements came in Veeti Väisänen back from Utah camp, playing in both Medicine Hat games. Niilopekka Muhonen missed Friday’s game after being “dinged up” in practice, according to Desjardins, but the Finnish blue liner played on Saturday. The Tigers’ head coach was happy to have both experienced defenceman in the lineup again.
“They have to get back in it, they haven’t played that much, so I expect good things from those guys as well,” Desjardins said.
Saturday’s win was a bounce-back effort for starter Jordan Switzer. The 18-year-old was pulled in the loss Friday, allowing three goals on 14 shots. He made 33 saves Saturday for his 26th career win.
“I knew that wasn’t good enough (Friday), I kind of got it from the coaches a little bit, but I have to be better for our group,” Switzer said. “I thought I was a big difference maker in this game so that’s good.”
Switzer reflected Desjardins’ desire for more from the team in front of him.
“We’ve been taking periods of and that’s when it bites us, teams scoring bunches on us like Friday night,” Switzer said. “We did a little bit better job (Saturday), I was able to kind of hold us in there until the third and we locked it down, which was good.”
Kadon McCann and Liam Ruck each scored their first goals of the season Saturday, Bryce Pickford tallied his fourth to lead all WHL defencemen in goal scoring. He was also ejected from the game after a fight where he was handed an additional two-minute misconduct and a game misconduct.
Already missing overage Van Mulligen, the Tigers leaned heavily on his defence partner, Jonas Woo, as well as the experienced Muhonen and Väisänen.
“That’s just something our team has to do, everyone,” Woo said. “When someone is out of the game, everyone has to step up. He’s my D-partner and I’m responsible for him, so I took that on my role and I think all the guys helped out. So I think it was a team effort.”
Dayton Reschny scored his first WHL goal, part of a three-goal first period Saturday.
“It was a surreal feeling, the crowd is so loud,” Reschny said. “I just came off the bench and kind of anticipated the defenceman going to the middle and just got it on my stick. The first thing I thought to do is rip it and it happened to go in.”
The Tigers are off until Friday when they head to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes before hosting the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday.
