NEWS PHOTO James Tubb
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck jumps into the arms of goaltender Carter Casey after the latter stopped the Calgary Hitmen's seventh shootout shooter to secure a 7-6, comeback shootout win Satruday at Co-op Place. Ruck, the Tigers' seventh shooter, scored the game winner.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
Saturday’s Medicine Hat Tigers win was a shootout in many a way.
The Tigers scored three straight goals to comeback and tie the game at 6-6 before beating the Calgary Hitmen 7-6 in the shootout at Co-op Place.
“That was a tough one, we’re down 6-3 and Calgary was playing well,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “(Noah) Davidson’s goal right at the end of the season was a big goal for us. (Carter) Casey made some huge saves in the third that enabled us to come back. A big goal from (Yaroslav) Bryzgalov as well. We’ve been playing lots of hockey and travelling lots, so it was a good battle for the guys.”
They trailed 6-3 with two minutes left in the second period before Noah Davidson scored at the end of the middle stanza to make it a two-goal game. The Rucks combined for a third period goal and Yaroslav Bryzgalov tied it up in the second half of the frame. Goaltender Carter Casey took over for starter Jordan Switzer halfway through the first, finishing with 16 saves.
“It shows a lot of character,” Casey said. “We’re down 3-1 at point, we battled back. That’s a game with a lot of up and downs, we had to keep our cool and I think we did that, especially in the third period. We were really good, the bench was great. It shows a lot of character and a lot of belief in our group.”
Liam Ruck, after scoring the Tiger’s fifth goal on a breakaway with older-twin brother Markus in the third, potted the shootout winner as the Tigers’ seventh shooter.
“There’s just so much character, we’ve showed it a lot this year that we’re never out of a game,” Ruck said. “We have good belief and that’s what we showed tonight.”
The Tigers opened the scoring early in the first.
Carter Cunningham had the puck below the goal line in the Calgary end and he backhanded a pass to Kadon McCann who fired a shot from the circles that beat starter Aidan Hesse 4:03 into the game. Kade Stengrim had the second assist on McCann’s eighth of the season and fourth in the last three games.
The Hitmen rattled off three straight goals, two on the power play.
Ethan Moore scored on a power play rush, getting sprung by Andrei Molgachev, beating Switzer to tie the game up at 1-1 at 5:34. A little over four minutes later, on another man advantage, Harrison Lodewyk knocked a puck past Switzer at the net front for the 2-1 lead.
They ended the Edmonton product’s night with a point shot from Ben MacBeath at 10:22 that bounced off Switzer’s blocker and into the net. With Calgary leading 3-1 the Tiger turned to Casey in net, ending Switzer’s night with three goals on four shots.
“You don’t really have time to think, right? You just have to go and just do your best for the team,” Casey said. “I think I did a pretty good job that tonight. The guys were great in front of me, obviously getting a couple goals late. There were six goals given up, but we still managed to get the win.”
Medicine Hat capitalized on a Hitmen error to bring themselves within one later in the period. Hesse attempted to clear the puck from his end and put the puck right on defenceman Veeti Väisänen’s stick. The Finnish product scored off the turnover to make it a 3-2 game at 12:58.
Calgary got the final score of the first, scoring on a delayed penalty. Molgachev knocked in a puck, that laid still to the right of Casey, to make it a 4-1 game after 20 minutes.
The Tigers started the second period with a power play. Tyson Moss had the puck at the point and he fed Väisänen for a one-timer to the left of Hesse. The Utah Mammoth products second of the night and third of the season made it a 4-3 game 1:05 into the frame.
Calgary rattled off a pair of goals to lengthen their lead.
Brandon Gorzynski carried the puck through the Tigers’ end, skating up to the point before he cut into the slot and fired off a shot to beat Casey for the 5-3 lead 5:08 into the middle frame. They scored on a power play a little over five minutes later with a net-front redirection off the stick of Lodewyk for his second of the night.
The Tigers ended the period with a goal. Josh Van Mulligen fired a shot from the point that rebounded into the slot. Davidson made good on the loose puck, knocking it in for his sixth of the season and the 6-4 score after 40 minutes. Desjardins went into the locker room earlier than usual ahead of the third period and told the team the result was up to them.
“It’s a big game for us, we have to find a way to come back,” Desjardins recalled. “We don’t have to panic, let’s do it for each other and they did that for one another.”
The Tigers jumped out early in the third, much to the delight of the 4,091 in attendance.
Markus and Liam Ruck flew up ice on a rush, challenging four Hitmen. The Tigers’ twins split through the defenders and played give-and-go with the puck before Markus fed Liam with a cross-ice pass for the empty net tap in. His eighth of the season made it a 6-5 game 3:14 into the third.
The Tigers tied it up almost 10 minutes later. After a flurry of chances on a power play, blocked by Hitmen or turned aside by Hesse, they struck at even strength. Yaroslav Bryzgalov carried the puck into the Calgary end and fired a shot from the face-off dot that beat Hesse top shelf for his fifth of the year, tying the game at 6-6 at 13:33.
They had chances in overtime, getting a power play with 1:25 left in the extra frame. They failed to score in overtime, heading to the shootout for a second-straight game after losing 4-3 in the skills competition Friday on the road to the Red Deer Rebels.
Calgary’s first shooter (Kale Dach) scored on Casey who shut the door after that. Davidson, the Tigers second shooter, scored to tie it up before Ruck scored to put the game in Casey’s hands. He stopped Hunter Aura to secure the win and put the Tigers in reach of a seven-point week.
The Tigers (13-6-3-2) head to Calgary on Sunday to finish a four game in five nights stretch and cap off the three-in-three weekend.
“Every game is just a game on its own, the boys have played a lot of hockey but tomorrow, you have to find a way to be good,” Desjardins said. “So they’ll have to come in and find a way to be good.”
Puck drop Sunday in Calgary is 4 p.m.
