Tigers blanked by Blades to open Saskatchewan swing

By Medicine Hat News on October 16, 2021.

It wasn’t the start the Tigers would have wanted for their Saskatchewan road trip.

Medicine Hat dropped their game against the Blades Friday night in Saskatoon, 4-0.

The Blades got on the board first with a goal from Trevor Wong, 5:12 into the first period. Pavel Bocharov assisted on the goal. Wong was acquired by the Blades in a blockbuster September WHL trade that sent Colton Dach from Saskatoon to the Kamloops Blazers.

Ten minutes later, Saskatoon capitalized on a Tigers penalty and Egor Sidorov scored to put the Blades up 2-0 on the power play with 4:03 left in the first period. Aidan De La Gorgendiere and Tristen Robins assisted on the special teams marker as a result of Josh Van Mulligan’s interference penalty. Friday night marked the Medicine Hat product, Van Mulligan’s, first WHL regular season game.

Saskatoon picked up right where they ended the first period with a Kyle Crnkovic goal 6:51 seconds into the frame.

It was the only offense of the period as the Tigers mustered only seven shots to the Blades 17 in the frame.

Crnkovic scored his second of the game and fifth of the season 5:20 into the third.

The Tigers fall to 2-3-0-0 on the season after two straight wins last weekend.

Garin Bjorklund stopped 25 of the 29 shots he faced for the Tigers, as his record sits at 1-3 early in the season.

Nolan Maier picked up the shutout for the Blades in his fifth start of the season. The 20-year-old has played five seasons in Saskatoon and sits seven wins away from 100 in his WHL career.

Medicine Hat heads down the road in Saskatchewan Saturday night, where they’ll take on the Prince Albert Raiders. Puck drops at 7 p.m.