Medicine Hat Tigers winger Josh Williams is stopped by Kootenay Ice goaltender Matt Berlin during the second period of Tuesday's Western Hockey League game at the Canalta Centre. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Bryan Lockner scored his biggest goal of the year on Tuesday night at the Canalta Centre.
The 18-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers centre broke open a tie game in the dying minutes of the third period to secure a late 3-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice and stretch his team’s narrow lead atop the Western Hockey League’s Central Division to three points.
The Tigers controlled the early action and looked poised to pull out in front when David Quenneville drew a tripping penalty on Peyton Krebs halfway through the opening frame. But the Ice promptly turned the tables when Brett Davis forced a turnover in the neutral zone and beat Hat goaltender Michael Bullion on a shorthanded breakaway to give Kootenay the edge at the break.
While Ice goaltender Matt Berlin kept Medicine Hat off the board with 11 stops in the first, Tyler Preziuso finally broke through his defences late in the middle frame. The 19-year-old winger picked off a pass from Jonathan Smart in the Kootenay end and quickly threw a backhand past Berlin to set things back to even with his 13th goal of the year.
The Tigers pushed the pace well into the third period, hemming the Ice into their own end for the majority of the frame, but it took an odd-man rush to get the go-ahead goal past Berlin entering the final five minutes of regulation. Lockner finished off the rush when he cut in from the wing and chipped a set-up pass from James Hamblin into the net — bringing the crowd of 2,904 to their feet and forcing the Ice into desperation mode.
Kootenay pushed for an equalizer but Quenneville put the game away with an empty-net goal in the final minute — making him the first defenceman in Tigers history to record 200 career points.
Bullion stopped 19 shots to lock up the victory and push the Tigers to 30-24-7-0 on the season. Berlin settled for the 29-save loss, dropping Kootenay to 25-34-3-0.
The Tigers head to Cranbrook to close out a home-and-home set with the Ice on Friday at 7 p.m.
