The Medicine Hat Tigers couldn’t capitalize on an early lead in their first game of the new year, falling 4-2 to the Hitmen in Calgary Wednesday.
Lukas Svejkovsky’s goal 10 seconds in to the matinee at the Saddledome gave the Tigers their only lead of the day in front of 6,514 fans, as the hosts took advantage of a couple ill-timed penalties in the third period to pull away.
With Dylan Plouffe and Brett Kemp in the penalty box and the score tied 2-2 in the third period, Mark Kastelic beat Tigers netminder Mads Sogaard. Three minutes later Plouffe got stuck in his own zone without a stick, and Sean Tschigerl added an insurance marker for Calgary.
Ryan Chyzowski had a tic-tac-toe power play goal earlier in the third but that was all the damage the visitors could do against Hitmen goaltender Jack McNaughton, who turned aside 32 shots in the victory.
Sogaard made 25 saves, giving up a second-period goal to Jonas Peterek and another early in the third to Hunter Campbell on a bad own-zone giveaway.
Medicine Hat, now 23-11-1-1 and third in the WHL’s Central Division, fell nine points back of division leader Edmonton and is only seven points ahead of 18-11-4-1 Calgary, which has two games in hand.
The teams will rematch Friday night at Canalta Centre before Seattle visits Saturday in a busy start to 2020.
The Tigers – who beat Calgary at home 3-1 this past Saturday – trail the season series 3-1, and after this weekend the sides square off only once more in the regular season, March 6 in the Gas City.
Later Wednesday at the Saddledome, Tigers prospect Oasiz Wiesblatt helped the Calgary Buffaloes claim the Mac’s Midget Tournament championship with a 6-2 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Wiesblatt, the Tigers’ first-round selection in May’s entry draft, had two goals and three assists in four round robin games as the Buffaloes went 6-1 overall.
Lethbridge, with Medicine Hat’s Quintin Unreiner and Hayden Prosofsky, went 1-1-2 at the Mac’s, ending with a 4-1 loss to the Buffaloes Sunday.
