NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY Elijah Brown of the Medicine Hat Tigers works to centre a puck against Winnipeg Ice goaltender Liam Hughes during their game Monday at Canalta Centre.
For the second game in a row the Medicine Hat Tigers were left wishing they could have a restart of the third period.
Following a 5-2 loss in Edmonton Saturday night, the Tigers returned to Canalta Centre for their first Monday home game in 12 years and lost it, too, 4-2 to the Winnipeg Ice.
In both contests, the opening 90 seconds of the last frame proved crucial.
“It’s frustrating for the boys right now, we can’t give that up, especially going into the third,” said Ryan Chyzowski, who had both Hat goals Monday. “We’ve been good about that all year, I think it’s something we’re getting away from. We’ve just got to talk about it, be a little bit harder off the draw there in the early minutes.”
Thirty-five seconds into the third, Winnipeg’s Owen Pederson redirected a pass from Peyton Krebs past goalie Mads Sogaard to level the score at 2-2.
Another 39 seconds later Jackson Leppard notched the eventual game-winner on a shot from just beyond the faceoff circle.
Similarly, the Oil Kings’ Jake Neighbours beat Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklund 1:18 into the final frame Saturday, also off an odd-man rush to make the score 4-1.
“Obviously we need to correct it,” said Tigers coach Joe Frazer on Monday. “The first five minutes of each period is always so important, you’ve got to make sure you come out and play the right way. To give out two outnumbered rushes there, they scored on both, it just can’t happen.
“It’s something we’ve got to learn from.”
With 3,397 – the third-largest crowd of the season and first Monday home game since 2008 – on hand for a 2 p.m. Family Day start, it was Chyzowski who supplied the early fireworks. He finished off a nice play by Brett Kemp at the side of the Ice net midway through the first period, then made it 2-1 with 33 seconds to go before the intermission, one-timing Jonathan Brinkman’s pass past Liam Hughes as he cut to the net on a rush.
“Brinks made it a 2-on-1, I saw the puck loose there in the slot and just wanted to hammer it,” said Chyzowski, who now has 27 goals on the season.
Michael Milne had Winnipeg’s first of the night. While the Tigers buzzed around Hughes in the waning minutes they couldn’t net an equalizer, with Elijah Brown and James Hamblin both missing the net on key rushes. Isaac Johnson put the game away with an empty-netter.
Hughes finished with 32 saves to Sogaard’s 29, though Sogaard had the highlight of the night with a ridiculous diving paddle save on Johnson in the first.
Brinkman and Dylan Plouffe scored Saturday in Edmonton, but the conference-leading Oil Kings got power-play goals from Ethan McIndoe and Ethan Cap, another from David Kope and an empty-netter from Dylan Guenther (who had a three-point night). Bjorklund made 23 saves while Beck Warm made 29 in the Edmonton net in front of 10,507 fans at Rogers Place.
Now 34-18-2-1, Medicine Hat could clinch a playoff spot when they host Tri-City on Friday. Lethbridge clinched on Monday when Regina lost to Brandon, and if the Pats lose Tuesday in Prince Albert the best they can do is tie the Tigers.
Incidentally, the 34-20-1-0 Ice could very well be a first-round playoff opponent for the Tigers, who finish the regular season series 2-2.
“We want to have the edge on any team, so we’ve got to figure out our game right now and not focus on anybody else,” said Chyzowski. “It’s something we’ve got to figure out, all get on the same page here and buckle down.”
