NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Brendan Lee celebrates his first period goal in a 3-2 shootout win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Co-op Place on Saturday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers kept themselves in the playoff hunt with a win over the weekend.
After getting shutout 3-0 Friday in Lethbridge the Tigers outlasted the Hurricanes for a 3-2 shootout win Saturday coming in the seventh round.
Shane Smith, who had the shootout winner, says the bench was anxious for the first goal and was happy they could get the two points against Lethbridge.
“It was a hard game all the way through, we do a good job of battling through adversity whether it may be penalties or them coming back,” Smith said. “We did a really good job with that tonight and just stay composed and getting those points.”
The Tigers led 2-1 after 20 minutes on goals from Rhett Parsons and Brendan Lee. Lethbridge scored in the second period to tie it up and neither team got on the board again until Smith’s shootout goal.
Friday and Saturday’s games were Lee’s first contests back since suffering an upper body injury on Jan. 7. He says it felt good to not only get on the scoresheet but also just get back into games.
“I never lost my confidence, so it felt really good coming in,” Lee said. “Getting banged up a couple times with my shoulder, it totally felt fine, so that was good.”
Medicine Hat goaltender Beckett Langkow had 26 saves and turned aside all seven shooters he face din the shootout for his 19th win of the year. He says it was nerve-racking during the extended shootout but kept to his routines to stay ready.
“Whether it’s going for a skate or drink some water, take a deep breath, that’s what I do to just try and stay focused,” Langkow said.
Parsons was impressed but not surprised by Langkow’s performance not only in the game but in the shootout.
“He’s played well all year, he’s a great goalie,” Parsons said. “That’s a huge shootout for him. He kept us in front and just with him back there, we all have confidence, which is huge.”
With the win Saturday the Tigers have picked up 16 of a possible 20 points in their last 10 games. The Tigers are back to .500 with a 22-22-7-1 record and sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Head coach Willie Desjardins says their point streak is critical and they have to keep going hard down the stretch.
“We were so far behind that we need every point we can get, it’s going to be really tight as we go forward,” Desjardins said. “We know we’re going to have to battle all the way, we have a tough schedule coming up, Red Deer a couple times and Kamloops, so we have a tough schedule ahead.”
The Tigers next game is against the Rebels but that contest isn’t slated until Saturday, giving them an unusual five day week to prepare for the one game. The week after the schedule picks up as they are in Red Deer on Feb. 20, in Regina against the Pats on the 22nd and host the Blazers and former Tigers coach Shaun Clouston on Feb. 25.
“We have to take a little breather and then we’ll get back at it but the week after is heavy,” Desjardins said. “We just have to stay focused, we’ve got to be fresh and we have to be ready when we get playing again.”
Four Warriors suspended indefinitely
The Western Hockey League announced Saturday afternoon that Moose Jaw netminder Connor Ungar, defenceman Max Wanner, centre Lynden Lakovic and defenceman Marek Howell were suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into possible violations of team rules and the WHL Standard of Conduct Policies.
