Medicine Hat Tigers captain James Hamblin netted the first hat trick of his Western Hockey League career in the first of two road games this weekend.
The 20-year-old Edmonton product powered the Tabbies to a 6-3 win over the Victoria Royals Saturday before getting held off the scoresheet in a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Giants Sunday.
The split weekend leaves Medicine Hat sitting at 10-5-1-0 on the season.
Ryan Chyzowski opened Saturday’s scoring in Victoria just 46 seconds into the game, becoming the first Tiger to reach 10 goals on the season and giving his team a 1-0 edge after 20 minutes.
Former Tigers centre Gary Haden responded for Victoria with his third of the season early in the second, setting off a back-and-forth frenzy. Corson Hopwo answered for Medicine Hat with his first of the campaign less than a minute later, then Victoria’s Keanu Derungs kept the pace before Hamblin potted his first of the night to restore Medicine Hat’s narrow lead entering the third.
Overage blueliner Parker Gavlas gave the Tigers some breathing room five minutes into the third, then Hamblin struck for back-to-back goals to complete his first hat trick after 16 two-goal nights in his 276-game career. The trio of tallies pushed Hamblin to nine on the season, one behind Chyzowski for the team lead.
River Fahey added a consolation marker for Victoria with less than three minutes left in regulation.
Tigers goaltender Mads Søgaard stopped 27 shots to collect the victory.
Victoria’s Shane Farkas settled for a 29-save loss, dropping the Royals to 6-7-1-0.
Medicine Hat was unable to continue their two-game winning streak when they arrived at the Langley Events Centre Sunday.
While Nick McCarry scored early in the second period to negate Tristen Nielsen’s first-period opener, the Giants responded with a goal from Zack Ostapchuk to carry their lead into the third.
Dylan Plouffe added some insurance for Vancouver three minutes into the final frame.
Trevor Longo cut into the lead on the man advantage to keep hope for a comeback alive, but the Giants struck for a pair of empty-netters in the dying minutes of regulation to push the game out of reach.
Medicine Hat’s power play was held to a single goal on seven opportunities, while the Giants went 0-for-2 with the advantage.
Giants netminder Trent Miner stopped 33 shots in the victory – pushing Vancouver to 9-8-1-0 on the season.
Søgaard stopped 21 shots in the loss.
Medicine Hat continues a nine-game road trip Wednesday in Prince George against the Cougars (4-11-0-1). The Tigers have gone 2-3-0-0 through the first five games of the swing.
