NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Medicine Hat Tigers centre Ryan Chyzowkski blocks a shot from Saskatoon Blades winger Colton Dach in front of goaltender Mads Søgaard during a Western Hockey League game at the Canalta Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Tigers officially entered their 50th year on the ice with a 3-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades on Tuesday night at the Canalta Centre.
Exactly 49 years after they dropped the puck on their first-ever Western Hockey League game, the Tigers welcomed the Blades to the Gas City and closed out their five-game homestand with a fourth consecutive victory – giving them nine out of a possible 10 points in the span.
“Obviously when you get 9-of-10 points it’s really good,” said Tigers assistant coach Joe Frazer. “We’ve played some good hockey, played the way we wanted to play. We’ll take those points and now we’ve got to get ready for a long time on the road.”
Medicine Hat pushed the pace through the opening period, peppering Nolan Maier with 21 shots while allowing just seven, but they were unable to get anything past the Blades netminder and took a scoreless tie into the second.
“He gave us a chance to stay around the hockey game,” Blades head coach Mitch Love said of his goaltender. “We take a lot of pride in playing good situational hockey here and I thought we were a little too loose defensively tonight to a very good offensive team, a team that plays the game quickly and is very competitive. He bailed us out and kept the score the way it was.”
The Tigers picked up where they left off to start the middle frame and Daniel Baker finally broke the stalemate just less than a minute into the period. The 18-year-old blueliner beat Maier with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle for his fourth goal of the season – all four of which have come in the past four games.
Ryan Chyzowski doubled up on the lead eight minutes later when he cut behind the net and beat Maier with a wraparound for his seventh tally of the campaign.
“I think it was huge that we just got on them early,” Chyzowski said of the Blades, who were playing their fifth game in seven nights. “We just got pucks behind their D, so we tried to tire them out early and not really let them get into the game. I think that was huge for us.”
Rookie defenceman Dru Krebs kept the hot period going with the first goal of his WHL career by snapping a feed from Corson Hopwo past Maier from the right circle.
“It was a huge relief,” said Krebs. “Coming in I didn’t expect a goal that quickly but it was a really fun time. The boys are so supportive of me and they gave me good pats on the back afterwards.”
Zach Huber finally beat Hat goaltender Mads Søgaard halfway through the third when he fired a wrist shot under the bar for a power play goal with Elijah Brown in the box for slashing.
Riding some new energy, the Blades attempted to mount a late comeback but Søgaard refused to let anything else behind him. The 6-foot-7 Dane stopped 24 shots to lock up the win and push Medicine Hat to 8-2-1-0.
Maier settled for the loss despite a 48-save performance, dropping Saskatoon to 7-4-0-1.
Medicine Hat has outshot their opponents in all 11 of their games this season. Over those 11 games the Tigers have generated 466 shots on goal while limiting opponents to a combined 300.
“These last games we’ve been playing we kind of just shoot everything and we wear teams down,” said Tigers winger Brett Kemp, who had two assists in the win. “In the second and third we kind of take over. It’s just starting to pay off more.”
NOTES: Tigers captain James Hamblin was named the WHL’s player of the week Tuesday after racking up two goals and five assists with a plus-seven rating over three straight victories. Hamblin was also named to the Canadian Hockey League’s team of the week, alongside Portland Winterhawks netminder Joel Hofer, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League forwards Xavier Simoneau and Raphael Lavoie, as well as QMJHL defenceman Darien Kielb and Ontario Hockey League blueliner Alec Regula … Medicine Hat now embarks on a nine-game road trip starting Sunday in Calgary against the Hitmen. The trip spans 27 days and more than 5,000 kilometres on the road. The Tigers return home Nov. 16 to host the Edmonton Oil Kings.
