Tigers fall 5-3 Friday in Lethbridge

By James Tubb on December 9, 2022.

The Medicine Hat Tigers made a second period comeback but could not complete the deal Friday night in Lethbridge.

The Tigers tied the game up at 3-3 heading into the third period before the Hurricanes scored two unanswered in the third to hand Medicine Hat a 5-3 loss. Medicine Hat entered the contest off the heels of a 5-2 loss in Red Deer against the Rebels on Wednesday.

The Tigers opened the scoring in Lethbridge on Dru Krebs third goal of the year. He picked up a cross ice pass from Oasiz Wiesblatt in the Hurricanes end and fired it home 12:17 into the game. Brendan Lee had the second assist.

Logan Wormald scored his 10th goal of the year 1:15 later to trigger the Teddy Bear Toss and tie the game up at 1-1. The Hurricanes carried the momentum into the second period, as they jumped ahead 3-1 with two straight goals from Miguel Marques and Tyson Zimmer in the second frame.

The Tigers answered back 19 seconds after Zimmer’s goal when captain Owen MacNeil fired a shot past goaltender Harrison Meneghin. Kurtis Smythe and Hunter St. Martin had the assists on MacNeil’s third goal of the year. A little over three minutes later, Brayden Boehm carried a puck into the Lethbridge end and wired a shot through Meneghin for the 3-3 tie. Defenceman Pasha Bocharov had the lone assist.

The Tigers and Hurricanes traded chances in the third period before Lethbridge potted the eventual game winner. Zimmer carried a puck up the left side of the ice and sent a shot through Tigers net minder Evan May to put the Hurricanes ahead 4-3. Jett Jones secured the win with 1:03 left by potting the empty net goal for the 5-3 final score.

Meneghin turned aside 38 shots for the win, pushing Lethbridge’s record to 17-11-0-1. Across the ice, May made 20 saves in his sixth start of the year. After the loss the Tigers record sits at 10-15-4-1.

Medicine Hat returns home Saturday to host the Moose Jaw Warriors for a 7 p.m. contest at Co-op Place.