NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers centre Ryan Chyzowski fights off a check from Edmonton Oil Kings centre Andrew Fyten during Game 5 of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference quarter-final on Friday at Rogers Place.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
EDMONTON
The Medicine Hat Tigers will play to keep their post-season alive when the Eastern Conference quarter-final shifts back to the Gas City Sunday.
The Tigers shook off a slow start and rallied to cut a three-goal deficit down to one late in the third period, but the Edmonton Oil Kings held on to take a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series with a narrow 5-4 victory on Friday night at Rogers Place.
“We were pretty disappointed with how we started the game, so it was just a little bit of a desperate push to kind of save the game,” said Tigers centre Ryan Chyzowski, who had two goals in the loss. “Obviously we were close but it just wasn’t good enough.”
It’s the first time Medicine Hat has trailed in the playoffs after winning Games 1 and 3, and the only time either squad has won back-to-back games in the series – a feat the Tigers now need to accomplish in order to advance.
“We knew it was going to be hard,” said Oil Kings centre Andrew Fyten. “We’ve got a lot of young guys in there and it’s their first playoff run, so this is a good experience for them.”
Aiming to snap the back-and-forth trend of the series, the Oil Kings came out with some fire beneath their blades and wasted little time setting the tempo.
Right off the opening draw, Edmonton’s Andrei Pavlenko gained the zone, drove behind the net and beat Mads Søgaard on a wraparound just 16 seconds into the contest.
While Linus Nassen snapped one back for Medicine Hat on a power play just 23 seconds later – bringing the score to 1-1 just 39 seconds into a game with two shots on goal – the Oil Kings responded in bunches.
First Fyten tucked one in to regain the lead just past the five-minute mark of the first, then Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky added a breakaway goal three minutes later to give Edmonton a 3-1 cushion while holding a 6-1 edge in shots.
“We started well, then I think we kind of just sat back a little bit when we got ahead,” said Fix-Wolansky. “They kind of had a push there for a while, but we weathered the storm and got out of there with two points.”
Scott Atkinson added to Edmonton’s lead with just over a minute left in the first.
The Tigers pushed back early in the second when Chyzowski parked himself in front of Oil Kings goaltender Todd Scott and deflected a Trevor Longo point shot into the cage, but the Oil Kings responded again when Fix-Wolansky finished off a cross-crease pass from Quinn Benjafield later in the middle frame.
“I thought we were overwhelmed in the first, for some reason, but we definitely regrouped in the second,” said Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston. “It was a 50-50 period, but at least we were spending a little bit more time in the O-zone and we weren’t just defending. I thought in the third we really played our game – we put a lot of good shifts together.”
Søgaard settled into his crease with 14 saves in the second period, then James Hamblin cut Edmonton’s lead back down to a pair on a one-timer from Tyler Preziuso midway through the third.
The Tigers kept up the pressure and Chyzowski broke through again with eight minutes left in regulation – igniting Medicine Hat’s bench and pushing the Oil Kings onto their heels – but Scott held on to secure his second victory in as many starts with a 27-save performance.
“We’ve got to play like we did in the third all 60 minutes and then we’ll see what the outcome is,” said Tigers rookie Cole Sillinger. “We did push hard and maybe finished the game with the momentum. We for sure have to bring that (into Game 6) and use that from the drop of the puck.”
Medicine Hat nearly tied the game on a late chance with Scott out of his crease, but the shot missed wide.
Søgaard turned away 34 shots in the loss.
“I think he played well,” said Clouston. “We didn’t give him a lot of help early on but he dug in and played well.”
Former Tigers winger Josh Williams – sent to Edmonton at the trade deadline in exchange for centre Brett Kemp – warmed up with his team but did not dress for the game.
The Tigers and Oil Kings return to the Canalta Centre for Game 6 on Sunday at 6 p.m.
