NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN South East Athletic Club Tigers goaltender Beck Boiteau gets his blocker on a deflected shot from Airdrie Xtreme forward Tyson Sandhu (9) during an Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League playoff game at Hockey Hounds Arena on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The South East Athletic Club Tigers will be fighting to keep their season alive when their best-of-three Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League playoff series against the Xtreme shifts back to Airdrie tonight for a win-or-go-home rubber match.
The Tigers had a chance to close out the series on Thursday evening at Hockey Hounds Arena, but Airdrie rallied to force Game 3 with a 3-1 victory.
“They were playing for their lives and you could tell. They were ready to go tonight,” said Tigers head coach Brayden Desjardins. “We’ve been tight all series long and all season long. It’s always been back and forth. It’s a fun series. Both teams played hard.”
The Tigers put themselves into penalty trouble halfway through the opening frame and Airdrie converted with a goal from Connor Frost to stake the early lead. Ethan Neutens extended the gap to a pair a few minutes later, sending Hat netminder Silas Currie to the bench in favour of Beck Boiteau after allowing two goals on seven shots.
“It’s been tough for Silas. He’s had two concussions this year, so for him to go in, it was a tough one for him,” said Desjardins. “That’s not the goalie he is, but for Beck to come in and be prepared shows where he’s come from the start of the year until now.”
Boiteau managed to hold Medicine Hat in the two-goal game through the bulk of the second period, but Airdrie capitalized on another power play late in the frame – again from Frost – to carry a 3-0 lead into the third.
Medicine Hat’s penalty troubles continued halfway through the third, but Tigers captain Josh Van Mulligen took it upon himself to finally break Zach Zahara’s shutout bid shorthanded by crashing the net and jamming in his own rebound.
“It was nice to get a little bit of confidence for (Game 3), but we’re going to be a lot better (tonight) and we’re going to put a couple in the net,” said Van Mulligen. “We know that we’re going to come out a lot harder next time, a lot more prepared for them. We’re going to be a lot better.”
The Tigers rode the new energy to a strong finish, but they were unable to get anything else past Zahara in the dying minutes of regulation.
“We played hard. I thought we showed a lot of character,” said Desjardins. “It looked like they were a little bit tired, so for us to have a really good finish, it sets us up good for (Game 3).”
Zahara stopped 29 shots to earn the victory. Boiteau – who will start Game 3 tomorrow in Airdrie at 5 p.m. – turned away 28 in relief of Currie.
