NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo protects the puck from checking Edmonton forward Dylan Dean in the first period of WHL action Wednesday at Co-op Pace against the Oilers Kings. The Tigers lost 4-2.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Tigers couldn’t complete a comeback bid Wednesday night.
The Tigers drew within one of the Edmonton Oil Kings but could not tie the game up, falling 4-2 at Co-op Place. Their Central division lead over the Oil Kings is narrowed by three points after the loss.
“Edmonton had a pretty quick start, they were outshooting us pretty good, 8-2 early in the game and I thought we played well later in the game,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “I thought we came back, we had our chances to tie it up but it just didn’t go. I liked our effort late but I didn’t like it early.”
A fast first period ticked on by before the Oil Kings rattled off a pair.
Forward Dylan Dean had a shot stopped by the blocker of Tigers’ starter Jordan Switzer before bouncing up into the air and into the back of the net. His 12th of the season put Edmonton ahead 1-0 with 4:05 left in the opening frame.
They struck again 38 seconds later with a shot from the point. Carter Sotheran walked the blue line before throwing a puck on net that beat Switzer for his 10th of the year.
Edmonton led the period in shots 11-5. The Tigers got on the board late in the middle frame.
Markus Ruck carried the puck into the Edmonton end and he dished off to a streaking Dayton Reschny. He released a shot from the bottom of the circles that beat starter Ethan Simcoe with 2:08 left in the second. Jonas Woo had the second assist on Reschny’s eighth of the season.
Woo slotted back into the lineup Wednesday after missing Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes with an upper-body injury.
“He’s such a good player, he skates, he gives us a lot,” Desjardins said. “I thought we got better as the game went, we just didn’t have enough.”
The Oil Kings regained their two-goal lead with a power play marker.
A shot from Ethan MacKenzie at the point was tipped in by Lukas Sawchyn, making it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes. Sotheran had the second assist on MacKenzie’s 17th.
The Tigers started the third period with a power play, finding themselves with a two-man advantage after a Blake Fiddler tripping minor 19 seconds into the period. They had chances on the man advantage but couldn’t beat Simcoe as the Oil Kings killed off the five-on-three.
Medicine Hat drew within one 8:56 into the third. Noah Davidson carried the puck into the Edmonton end, cutting to the net around a defender before scoring with a backhand shot to make it 3-2. Yaroslav Bryzgalov and Woo had the assists on his 16th of the season.
The Tigers had chances in the third period to tie the game up, outshooting Edmonton 11-4 in the frame. They weren’t able to capitalize on a power play midway through the frame or while six-on-five late in the period. The Oil Kings scored on the empty Tiger net, Gavin Hodnett scoring his 10th, to ice the win.
“They’re a good team, it’s just on us,” Woo said. “I think we’re good enough to play better than that and well take into account next time.”
Switzer finished with 20 saves, Simcoe stopped 25 shots for the win. The Tigers outshot Edmonton 27-24 and won the face-off battle 39-23. Edmonton was 1-4 on the power play, Medicine Hat went 0-3.
The Tigers (34-9-3-3) are on the road Friday taking on the Swift Current Broncos.
