NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Bryce Pickford makes a cross-ice pass in the Lethbridge end in the first period of a 7-4 win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Hurricanes. Pickford scored his 32nd of the season, tying the franchise single-season defenceman goal record set by Kris Russell in the 2006-07 season.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Tigers put themselves on the edge of a pair of records Saturday night.
A 7-4 win at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes gives the Tigers 17-straight wins, tying the franchise’ longest win streak set in 2006-07.
“It’s always great to win, in this league anybody can beat you on any given night, a lot of things have to go your way to win that many games,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “Our entire group plays pretty hard, our leadership group has done a great job. Everybody comes in works and when you work, you always have a chance to win.”
Captain Bryce Pickford had a goal and an assist in the win. The goal, his league-leading 32nd of the season, ties Kris Russell for the franchise’s single season goals by a defenceman record set in the 2006-07 season.
“Getting 32 goals isn’t easy, it’s a record I’m going to remember forever and hopefully I can break it, but we’ll see,” Pickford said.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to get on the board Saturday night, much to the delight of the 4,519 in attendance.
Off the opening face-off, Jonas Woo carried the puck in to the Lethbridge end and created a rebound for a shot, setting up Kade Stengrim who knocked in the loose puck for his ninth and the 1-0 lead just seven seconds into the game. Stengrim’s goal extends his point streak to six games and extends Woo’s to 15 games.
The Tigers struck again, just over four minutes later.
After a Medicine Hat power play expired, the Hurricanes had a shot in the Tigers end that ricocheted to Liam Ruck who carried the puck up ice. He dished off to Andrew Basha at the Hurricanes’ blue line and the Calgary Flames prospect skated in and scored on starter Koen Cleaver for his second of the season. The goal, also assisted by Woo, gives Basha points in his first four games back in the WHL. Ruck’s assist gives him points in 13 straight games.
The Hurricanes struck on a fluke play. A dump in ricocheted off an official and found Nathan Maloney who found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game at 10:35. Former Tiger defenceman Kyle Heger had the second assist. He was traded to Lethbridge on Wednesday in the deal that brought forward Luke Cozens to Medicine Hat.
The Tigers appeared to re-gain a two-goal lead with just over five minutes left in the frame. Stengrim re-directed a point shot and started to celebrate before it was called back due to a high stick. After a review, the call stood as no goal.
They scored right after when Dayton Reschny redirected a shot from Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll past Cleaver for the 3-1 lead. Tyson Moss had the second assist.
Lethbridge opened the scoring in the second with a breakaway. A blocked shot in the Lethbridge end sprung forward Tyden Lafournaise on a break. He deked out starter Jordan Switzer to make it a 3-2 game over the halfway mark.
The Tigers rattled off three straight to lead 6-2 after 40 minutes.
Woo picked up the puck at the point in the Lethbridge end and he worked his way into the slot before unleashing a shot that beat Cleaver at 12:21. Bryce Pickford and Reschny had the assists on Woo’s 20th.
They scored just 15 seconds later when Liam Ruck kept on a two-on-two and scored his 22nd of the season. Riley Steen and Basha had the assists.
The last goal of the second frame was a historic one.
Pickford took a cross-ice pass from Woo at the point before skating in and scoring with a laser. Stengrim had the second assist on the Montreal Canadiens prospect’s record-tying tally.
The Hurricanes scored a pair of goals in the third period with Daneault and Kade Duell finding the back of the net. A former Hurricane also found the back of the net.
Markus Ruck had the puck behind the Lethbridge net and he fed Cozens, at the face-off dot, with a pass he hammered past his former teammate for his first goal as a Tiger and 18th of the season. Basha had the second assist, rounding out a three-point night for the Calgary product.
“You’re thinking about getting the first one with the new team, you can’t think about it too much, but it was in the back of my mind,” Cozens said. “Rucker made a good play, and it just snuck in. I couldn’t be happier.”
Switzer finished with 17 saves, recording his league-leading 19th win of the season. Across the ice from him, Cleaver had 40 stops as the Tigers outshot Lethrbdige 47-21. The Hurricanes power play was 1-3, Medicine Hat went scoreless on five power plays. They edged out Lethbridge in the face-off dot, 32-31.
The Tigers (29-6-3-2) take the 17-game win streak on the road Wednesday, facing the Edmonton Oil Kings who sit one point back of the Tigers for the Eastern conference and Central division lead.
