Tabbies drop first game back from holidays
By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on December 29, 2021.
A new lineup brought similar results for the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tigers lost 3-1 in Calgary against the Hitmen on Tuesday night in their first game back from the Holidays. It was a new-look Tigers lineup, as rookie defenceman Josh Van Mulligan was called up from the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy, and freshly signed veteran forward Carter Chorney drew in for his first game donning the orange and black. Chorney joined the club Tuesday morning a day after the Tigers traded forward Lukas Svejkovsky to Seattle, and Tuesday afternoon they moved Cayden Glover, Carlin Dezainde and Ryan Nolan in a three-team deal. Medicine Hat rookie forward Cru Hanas made his WHL debut in the contest after the flurry of transactions. The Tigers also received reinforcements from the injured list, with veteran forward Corson Hopwo returning to the lineup for his first game since Nov. 20 when he suffered an upper body injury against the Winnipeg Ice. There were no goals in the first period as both teams were shaking the rust off in their first game back. But halfway through the second frame, the Hitmen knocked in the game’s first marker on the power play. Forward Cael Zimmerman scored his eighth of the season on the man advantage in his 200th WHL game to put the Hitmen up 1-0. Calgary kept Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklund busy between the pipes with 26 shots through the first 40 minutes. With fewer than 10 minutes to play in the third, Riley Fidler-Schultz had the puck in front of Bjorklund and roofed his 14th of the season after going unchecked by any Tiger defenceman, giving the Hitmen a 2-0 lead. Oasiz Wiesblatt scored for the Tigers with a six-on-four man advantage to bring the Tabbies within one. Bjorklund was on the bench for the extra attacker when Wiesblatt scored his third of the season from the top of the circles. Dru Krebs and Andrew Basha picked up the assists on the power play tally. But the Tigers momentum was short lived, as Tyson Galloway capitalized on the empty net to secure the Hitmen win with a final score of 3-1. In his 19th start of the season, Bjorklund was busy throughout the game and stopped 37 of 39 shots he faced. Across the ice, Hitmen goaltender Brayden Peters turned aside 23 of 24 Tigers shots in his 24th start of the season. The Tigers are back in action Thursday night as they host Calgary for the second game of their home-and-home series. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 12-11
