NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers winger Tyler Preziuso knocks Winnipeg Ice winger Michael Milne off the puck during a Western Hockey League game at Canalta Centre on Friday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
All he does is win.
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund pushed his record in the Western Hockey League to a perfect 5-0 after dealing the Winnipeg Ice a 5-2 loss with a 29-save performance on Friday night at the Canalta Centre.
“The team has helped me a lot through this experience,” said Bjorklund. “I think my confidence is through the roof right now because of how much they help me see the puck and go on with the game. I have to give a lot of credit to them for my success so far.”
The 17-year-old’s blazing-hot start is reminiscent of the run former Tabby netminder Nick Schneider made to open his career in Medicine Hat. Schneider was acquired in a trade with the Regina Pats in 2014 and won his first 11 starts with the Tigers. He went on to finish his career with the Calgary Hitmen after logging a 74-44-3-0 record through 132 games in orange and black.
“Schneider was a great young goalie for us just like Garin is now,” said Tigers assistant coach Joe Frazer. “I think last year in midget really helped him, when he led his team to the Telus Cup – just the confidence he gained. Then he had a great summer. I think it’s really his competitive nature that driving him to continue to get better.”
Winnipeg got an early chance to strike first Friday when Hat defenceman Parker Gavlas was nabbed for a cross check just over a minute into regulation, but it was the Tigers who took advantage. Just 18 seconds into the infraction, Elijah Brown took a stretch pass from Cole Clayton while racing up the ice and beat netminder Jesse Makaj through the wickets for his second of the year.
Medicine Hat tacked onto the lead five minutes later when James Hamblin won a race to the puck in the corner and fed Tyler Preziuso for a one-timer in the slot to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes. The goal stood as Preziuso’s third.
The Tigers kept up the pressure in the second and Ryan Chyzowski broke through eight minutes into the frame when he took a behind-the-net pass from Brett Kemp in the slot and snapped it over Makaj’s glove for his fifth of the campaign.
Winnipeg finally managed to sneak one past Bjorklund five minutes later on a Jakin Smallwood deflection – ending the Ice’s 160-minute goalless drought and giving them some life entering the third.
“We were preaching about getting traffic in front of the net and that’s what we did to get that goal,” said Ice alternate captain Connor McClennon. “We were down on ourselves, for sure. It’s not easy going over 120 minutes without scoring so it was good to get some fire under us. It led to another one, but we just fell short.”
McClennon carried the momentum into the final frame and beat Bjorklund on the short side just over a minute into the period, but the Tigers quickly snuffed out the pressure. Facing the potential of a three-goal comeback, Kemp took the puck into the Winnipeg end and found Cole Sillinger opposite the crease for a tap-in insurance tally.
“I think hockey IQ is something that’s a strength for me so I try to use it as best as I can and kind of look for open guys,” said Kemp, who finished with two assists. “I think I found quite a few tonight.”
The Ice responded with some sustained pressure in the Hat end, but Preziuso pushed the game out of reach on an empty-netter with just over a minute left.
“They really wanted to go hard to the net and that’s what they practiced all week,” Frazer said of the Ice. “We knew we were going to be in a tough game and they played fast, give them a lot of credit. They played really well so it was big to get the two points.”
Makaj settled for a 29-save loss, dropping Winnipeg to 3-4-1-0.
Medicine Hat improved to 6-2-1-0 with the win.
The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre to host the Red Deer Rebels for Pink in the Rink night on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The team will be wearing special pink jerseys, which will be auctioned off during the game with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.
NOTES: The WHL announced two rule changes prior to Wednesday’s games, both of which took effect immediately. From now on, all high-sticking double-minor infractions will be need to be confirmed by a video review, however normal high-sticking calls cannot be reviewed for a potential double-minor. The WHL also announced that icing the puck on a delayed penalty will result in a face-off in the penalized team’s zone, as opposed to outside the blue line.
