Tigers fail to score as they lose goaltending duel in Regina 2-0 for eighth straight defeat
By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 24, 2022.
The Medicine Hat Tigers really needed a goal Wednesday night. Tigers net minder Garin Bjorklund made 39 saves but the Tigers were held off the scoreboard, losing 2-0 in Regina against the Pats. The defeat marks the eighth in a row for Medicine Hat and are mired in an offensive slump. The Tigers have scored only five goals in their past five games, giving up 19 to their opponents. It was a quick first period as the Pats outshot the Tigers 13-2, including two short-handed breakaways which Bjorklund turned aside. Medicine Hat limped into Wednesday’s contest on a seven-game losing streak after falling 4-1 to the Prince Albert Raiders on Monday. Bjorklund kept up the wall in net for the Tigers, as the Pats continued to out chance the visiting Tabbies. Regina led the shot category in the second period 17-8, including multiple open-net opportunities for the Pats that Bjorklund quickly denied. With no offence to fill the time, the two clubs ramped up the physical play with five penalties in the frame, including a last 10-second scrum that put the game at four-on-four for the start of the third period. Tigers forward Brendan Lee went down in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury and did not return for the rest of the game. Just like the two periods before, the third went by with no offence while both the Tigers and Pats traded chances. Medicine Hat had a power play at the halfway mark that was halted when forward Carter Chorney got in a shoving match with Pats d-man Neithan Salame. The Pats picked up a power play and notched the game’s first goal 1:06 into the man advantage. D-man Ryker Evans sent a puck on net from the point that snuck past Bjorklund top shelf to put Regina ahead with 6:29 left in the tight contest. Regina’s Cole Dubinsky and Tanner Howe had the assists on Evans’ 12th goal of the season. Medicine Hat pulled Bjorklund for an extra attacker in the final two minutes but Pats superstar Connor Bedard forced a turnover at the Regina blue line and fired the puck into the empty net for the 2-0 final score. The goal extended Bedard’s scoring streak to seven games. Pats net minder Kelton Pyne picked up his second shutout of his WHL career, turning aside all 21 Tigers shots he faced. The win gives Regina two much needed points as they sit three back of the final Eastern Conference wildcard position with a record of 19-24-1-1. The loss brings Medicine Hat’s record to 9-34-3-1 and they remain in last place in the WHL. The Tigers have today to practice before they welcome the WHL’s second-place Winnipeg Ice on Friday night at Co-op Place. That game gets underway at 7 p.m. 16-15
