NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo leans into a shot in the first period of a 4-3 overtime loss Sunday afternoon at Co-op Place to the Tri-City Americans.
The Medicine Hat Tigers salvaged a point Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers scored two third period goals to force overtime against Tri-City before falling 4-3 in OT to the Americans at Co-op Place. It’s a second-straight loss for the Tigers after a 6-1 loss Saturday at Edmonton to the Oil Kings.
Tri-City scored 2:07 into overtime, capitalizing on a power play. The Tigers comeback goals came in the third on a pair of man advantage markers.
“It’s a tough loss, I thought it was great our power play got a couple big goals for us in the third which is good to get us a point,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “Tri-City played well, it was a fast game. We just have to find a way to maybe get a little bit more inside. But I thought they played well and I thought it was good that we come back and got a couple in the third.”
After 5:30 of uninterrupted play to start he game, the Tigers opened the scoring.
Defenceman Jonas Woo picked up a loose puck in the high slot and threw it on net, threading the needle through a cluster of players and the Tri-City net minder for the 1-0 lead at 7:41. His fifth of the season was followed up by the Ams minutes later.
Tri-City tied the game up at 9:33 with a net-front goal. Carter Savage had the puck in the corner and he threw it towards the crease where centre Gavin Garland was left all alone. He chipped the puck up and over starter Carter Casey with a shot that would leave golfer’s jealous.
Defenceman Charlie Elick had the lone assist on Garland’s second of the year. The Amercians led the game in shots after 20 at 7-6. Medicine Hat’s Markus Ruck had a late breakway where he scored just after the buzzer sounded to end the period.
The Tigers had their chances in the second period, but Tri-City’s Xavier Wendt made a few highlight-reel saves. He closed his legs on a Yaroslav Bryzglaov one-timer that rebounded to another Tigers who was denied by the blocker. The flurry of saves paid off for the Ams who grabbed a lead late in the second.
After an Ams chance in front of the net, the puck laid in the slot. Elick came in from the point and knocked it towards the net where it floated by skaters and over Casey’s shoulder for the 2-1 lead with 4:33 left in the frame. Jake Gudelj and Savage had the assists on Elick’s third.
Before the second period ended, an Ams skater grabbed a puck out of the air and threw it forward before the final buzzer. Desjardins and the Tigers protested for a penalty call on the closed hand on the puck to no avail.
“He carried it quite aways, so I don’t know, maybe the ref saw something different than I saw,” Desjardins said.
Tri-City scored early in the third for a two-goal lead. Connor Dale carried the puck toward the net on a two-on-one and he opted to keep, scoring on a sprawling Casey 1:19 into the period for the 3-1 lead.
The Tigers answered back on a pair of power plays.
Just 58 seconds into a man advantage, Markus Ruck wired a shot past Wendt to make it a 3-2 game at 6:14. Liam Ruck and Woo had the assists on Markus’ third.
They tied the game up on a separate power play 26 seconds later, much to the delight of the 3,833 in attendance. Markus threw the puck towards the net where Woo knocked in the rebound to tie the game up at 3-3 with his second of the night. Pickford had the second assist on Woo’s eighth.
“It’s important to respond, we know we can do it and we had the energy, but obviously not the result,” Woo said.
The tied game looked destined for a three-on-three overtime before Tri-City found themselves on a late power play. Pickford was assessed a double minor for high sticking with 39 seconds left in the third, giving the Americans’ a four-on-three advantage in the extra frame.
With a point in tow, the Tigers held on for the first few waves in overtime, sending the puck down to the Tri-City end. The Americans carried the puck into the Tigers’ end, setting up the man advantage. Gudelj had the puck at the point and fed Cruz Pavao at the bottom of the circles. The Tri-City forward skated around the circle before unleashing a wrister past Casey for the game winner 2:07 into overtime. Elick had the second assist on Pavao’s sixth of the year.
Casey finished with 21 saves in the loss. Across the ice from him, Wendt had 24 saves as the Tigers outshot Tri-City-City 27-25. The Tigers won the face-off battle 34-26 and went 2-2 on the power play. Trip-City was 1-2 with the man advantage.
The Tigers (10-5-2) are off until Friday when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place.
