Tigers fall Sunday 3-1 in Vancouver

By James Tubb on October 19, 2025.

The Medicine Hat Tigers drop the second game of their B.C. road trip.

Vancouver scored twice in the first period and held on as the Giants downed the Tigers 3-1 Sunday evening. Medicine Hat opened the six-game trip with a 5-4 loss Saturday at Victoria to the Royals.

“I thought we played pretty good tonight, teams are ready for us, they’re waiting for us,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “We had chances to score and we didn’t score. They capitalized on a couple chances. But I thought we played pretty good.”

Vancouver kicked off the scoring with a pair of first period goals.

Tyus Sparks opened the scoring, left alone in front of Tigers’ starter Carter Casey, finding the back of the net on a backhand shot 4:55 into the game. Tobias Tomik had the puck up near the point, picking off an exit attempt by the Tigers and he fed Sparks at the front of the crease for his fourth of the year.

They made it a 2-0 lead with a goal from Jakob Oreskovic. The Gaints’ forward kept the puck on a two-on-one rush and fired a shot past Casey for the two-goal lead 7:07 into the game. Ty Halaburda had the lone assist on Oreskovic’s fourth of the year.

The Tigers outshot Vancouver 10-8 in the period, trailing 2-0.

They got on the board in the second. Noah Davidson picked off an exit pass, reaching up to grab the puck before skating in and scoring five hole on Burke Hood to make it a 2-1 game 6:47 into the period. His third of the season was the lone goal of the period with the Tigers pushing for more to tie the game. They outshot Vancouver 15-9 in the period.

Medicine Hat had a chance to tie it in the third with a shot off the stick of Carter Cunningham that beat Hood but rang off the post. The other way, Casey made a breakaway save on the Giants’ Aaron Obobaifo around the 12-minute mark to keep the deficit to just one goal. Vancouver iced the game on a breakaway a few minutes later.

Dallas Stars’ prospect Cameron Schmidt was sprung all alone for a rush and he deked out Casey for his sixth goal of the season and the 3-1 lead at 10:32. Tigers’ captain Bryce Pickford was assessed a 10-minute misconduct after the goal, ending his night.

Vancouver tightened down the hatches after that, holding the Tigers to just five shots in the period as they held on for the 3-1 win. Medicine Hat led the game in shots 30-21. Neither team scored on two power plays, the Tigers won the face-off battle 30-26.

Casey made 18 saves in the loss. Across the ice from him, Hood made 29 stops.

Medicine Hat was without defenceman Jonas Woo for the second-straight game. Forward Cam Parr was on the lineup sheet to start the game but did not take a shift. Desjardins said postgame that Parr was out with illness. The Tigers’ head coach says the 19-year-old could have played but they opted to get him the game off.

The Tigers (7-4) are off until Wednesday when they head to Prince George to take on the Cougars.

Editors note: The previous story has been updated with quotes from head coach Willie Desjardins.