Tigers outlast Ice in 4-3 shootout victory

By Ryan McCracken on October 15, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The Medicine Hat Tigers shook off a late scare and rallied back to secure a 4-3 shootout victory over the Kootenay Ice on Saturday night at the Canalta Centre.

Ryan Jevne scored the shootout winner in the fifth round while Jordan Hollett turned away 32 shots through 65 minutes then stopped 4-of-5 shooters to complete a late comeback and lock up the win less than a week after being shut out in Cranbrook.

“It’s always in the back of our heads that these guys shut us out last game,” said Tigers winger Tyler Preziuso, who had three assists in the win. “We wanted to beat them bad, and when we come out and beat them at the last second like that it’s always huge.”

Hayden Ostir broke open a scoreless game at the three-minute mark of the second period when he entered the offensive zone, picked up a pass from Tyler Preziuso and beat Ice goaltender Jesse Makaj clean on the blocker side for his third of the year.

Hollett preserved Medicine Hat’s narrow lead at the intermission with 20 saves through the first two frames — including a breakaway stop on Ice rookie Connor McClennon late in the second. But the Ice finally broke through the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Ottawa Senators prospect’s defences early in the third when Davis Murray jumped on a loose puck in front and chipped it into the top corner for his fourth of the season.

While Tigers captain James Hamblin quickly answered back by shoveling a loose puck past Makaj on a power play two minutes later — snapping a five-game goalless drought — Kootenay immediately responded in numbers.

“It felt good,” said Hamblin, who pulled an imaginary monkey off his back after scoring the goal. “It’s been tough, I’ve had it every game — I’ve been a post away, I’ve been so close, so to finally put that in felt good.”

Former Tiger Jaeger White knotted things back up with his third of the year just over three minutes later then rookie centre Jakin Smallwood stole away the lead with the first goal of his Western Hockey League career at the halfway point of the third.

“I thought we pushed hard. It was a hard fought game and we fought back a bit there. It’s unfortunate we don’t get the extra point,”said White, a Medicine Hat product who was booed by his hometown fans in his shootout attempt, which was stopped by Hollett. “There’s passionate fans here. I loved my time in Medicine Hat, and if I was on Medicine Hat and another team was shooting I’d want them to be booing too, so it is what it is.”

While the back-to-back markers silenced the crowd of 3,118, Ryan Chyzowski brought life back to the building with four minutes left in regulation by jamming a rebound behind Makaj to force overtime.

“Both teams wouldn’t quit,” said Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston. “We had the upper hand and then they fought back late and took over, but we were able to tie it up. It was a real battle, especially down the stretch.”

Hollett settled back into his crease and held off four Ice shots in overtime — which featured 88 seconds of power play time for Kootenay and 42 for Medicine Hat — to force a shootout.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on our energy after they score goals, or just our energy in general at the start of games and making sure we’re staying positive,” said Hollett. “I think that really paid off. I think we didn’t really panic at any moment, we just made sure that we kept playing our game and stuck to the process.”

Tigers rookie Josh Williams and Ice winger Cameron Hausinger traded goals in the third round to extend the shootout after Kootenay’s Peyton Krebs and McClennon and Medicine Hat’s Hamblin and Bryan Lockner were denied in the first two rounds. Jevne broke the tie in the fifth round, then Hollett stopped Ice centre Brad Ginnell to seal the win.

“Usually throughout the years — or throughout the game even if you don’t know a guy — you’ll know what kind of player he is, you’ll know if he’s more of a skilled guy or a shooter,” said Hollett. “I think putting that into your thought process when they’re coming in, and then ending up really letting your reactions take over, it’s something that we practice a lot.”

Makaj settled for the loss on 25 saves — including two in overtime — to leave the Ice at 3-3-0-1 on the season. Medicine Hat climbed to 5-5-0-1 with their fourth win in the past five games

The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre Friday to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first game of a home-and-home set.

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