One-sided opener

By Ryan McCracken on March 24, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The Medicine Hat Tigers have prevailed through times of adversity all season long, and Friday was no exception.

Despite losing defencemen Dylan MacPherson and Linus Nassen to a pair of early injuries, the Tigers took the Brandon Wheat Kings to task with a lopsided 7-2 victory in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference quarter-final at the Canalta Centre.

“Everyone stepped up,” said Tigers captain Mark Rassell, who had three points in the win. “It was an unbelievable effort by all of us. I think everyone pitched in, it was a real team effort tonight and I’m really proud of our whole group.”

While Ryan Jevne gave the Tigers an early lead with a power play goal midway through the opening frame, the tally came at a cost. Just prior to the halfway point of the period, MacPherson went into the corner to play the puck and took a hard knee-on-knee collision from 6-foot-5, 252-pound Wheaties winger Baron Thompson. MacPherson immediately left the ice and did not return. Nassen left after taking a hit shortly afterward.

“It was basically our season in a nutshell,” said Tigers centre Gary Haden. “Losing those two guys, it’s huge. They both play key minutes, power play minutes, PK minutes, so losing them was not ideal.”

Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston added the team will have to wait and see whether Nassen and MacPherson will be available for Game 2 Sunday.

“We’ll have to find out more,” said Clouston. “Obviously they were both injured enough that they couldn’t finish the game.”

Rookie defenceman Cole Clayton tacked on just 21 seconds after Jevne’s marker by jumping on a rebound in the slot and putting the puck past Wheat Kings goaltender Logan Thompson for his first career playoff goal in his first post-season game.

Rassell kept the momentum rolling three minutes later when he picked up a pass from Hayden Ostir on the doorstep and chipped it over Thompson to give the Tabbies a 3-0 lead on just seven shots.

While Brandon’s Luka Burzan put a stop to the bleeding by beating Tigers goaltender Jordan Hollett in the dying minutes of the opening frame, Hollett settled into his crease and Medicine Hat went right back to work in the second.

Ryan Chyzowski re-established the three-goal padding just a few minutes into the middle frame after dangling around the defence and beating Thompson high, then Haden — who stepped in to play defence with MacPherson and Nassen out —finished off a highlight reel setup from Rassell for a shorthanded goal in his own first career playoff game.

“As soon as Linus went down he was volunteering,” Clouston said of Haden. “He’s done it a couple times for us now.”

Bryan Lockner stretched the lead to five on a 2-on-1 with Elijah Brown a few minutes later, sending Thompson marching for the bench in favour of Dylan Myskiw after allowing six goals on 18 shots.

Kristians Rubins joined the scoring parade four minutes into the final frame after jumping on a rebound in the slot and threading the puck past Myskiw to ignite the crowd of 3,050 with his third point of the night.

The Wheat Kings were given five power play chances to muster a response in the third — including a pair of extended two-man advantages — but they only managed to get one past Hollett on a James Shearer shot, and the Tigers skated away with a 1-0 series lead.

“We certainly had times where I thought we did really well,” said Shearer. “We definitely had some pressure on them, but when it comes to playoffs I think every little mistake is kind of amplified and we found that out tonight.”

Hollett collected his first career playoff win with 32 saves in the victory. Myskiw stopped six in relief of Thompson.

“I think we showed to ourselves and proved to ourselves that we can do this,” said Hollett. “I think they have a little bit better in them and I’m sure they’re going to throw out a huge pushback Sunday.”

Puck drop for Game 2 is set for 6 p.m.

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