NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Andrew Basha celebrates with defenceman Matt Paranych after scoring his fourth goal of the night to lead the Tigers past the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-1 Saturday night at Co-op Place.
The Andrew Basha show was on full display Saturday night at Co-op Place.
The 18-year-old forward scored four times as part of a five-point night in a 6-1 win for the Medicine Hat Tigers over the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Basha’s performance came with family in the building, making the night sweeter for the 2024 NHL draft eligible winger.
“It’s awesome anytime you can have a great night like that and everything kind of seemed to go in tonight,” Basha said. “It’s a great feeling for sure and we just have to keep winning here.”
The Tigers came into Saturday’s game off an 8-0 trounce of the Regina Pats on Wednesday and a 3-2 win Nov. 18 at Brandon, giving them three wins in a row. Head coach Willie Desjardins liked how his team capitalized on Brandon in the middle of a three-in-three weekend and jumped out early.
“It’s a tough trip for them here, they were in Red Deer last night and we’re sitting at home and didn’t play, that’s tough the you get that,” Desjardins said. “You have to take advantage of it when you get that opportunity and they have another tough one. They gotta go to PA tomorrow, so that’s a tough road trip for them.”
Saturday night also marked the WHL debut of forward Markus Ruck. The Tigers 21st overall pick in the 2023 WHL draft watched younger twin brother and ninth overall pick Liam make his debut on Wednesday. He was happy his debut came with a win.
“It was really special obviously, getting that behind me now and it’s a fast paced game out there, that was a good team as well so it was good to get in there,” Ruck said. “It’s always a lot of fun in the room with the boys.”
Medicine Hat opened the scoring 6:33 into the contest, bringing the 3,405 in attendance to their feet early.
Basha picked up his first of the night, capitalizing on an early power play with Cayden Lindstrom and Hayden Harsanyi recording assists.
The Tigers struck again with Basha redirecting a point shot, on another power play, for a 2-0 lead at the 10:24 mark. Gavin McKenna and Oasiz Wiesblatt had the helpers.
Brandon answered back with a shorthanded goal late in the first. Wheat Kings’ captain Nate Danielson carried the puck up ice and wired a shot top shelf for his eighth on the season.
That was the only goal Zach Zahara allowed on the night, with the 18-year-old making 23 saves for his fifth win of the season in his fifth appearance, with three (including Saturday) coming from games he’s started. The Rocky View product liked his game in the win but still sees room to improve.
I thought was a good night for goaltending side of things, I could have played a little bit better in some areas but I was happy,” Zahara said. “Just some play reading and decision making stuff, so (I’ll) work on that a little bit and then obviously just some minor things.”
Medicine Hat added to their total early in the second to regain their two-goal lead. Rhett Parsons fired a shot from the pointthat found twine 3:08 into the middle frame. Dru Krebs and Basha had the helpers.
The Tigers kept the offence flowing. Just 1:58 later, Krebs was was near the crease on a power play and after being knocked down, redirected a pass into the net for his first goal of the season.
Shane Smith and McKenna had the helpers.
Basha collected some hats midway through the frame. The 18-year-old tipped in a pass from Bogdans Hodass to give him his second career hat trick and 10th goal on the season. Tyler MacKenzie had the secondary assist on Basha’s third goal, which out Medicine Hat ahead 5-1 after 40 minutes.
Basha’s third goal ended Carson Bjarnason’s night in net for Brandon, making 15 saves in his 32:50 of action. Ethan Eskit took over between the pipes, making seven saves.
The Tigers rounded out the scoring in the third period with yet another marker from Basha. The Calgary product broke in on a breakaway and scored five-hole for his fourth goal of the night, the second time in his career he’s scored four goals in one game. MacKenzie had the lone assist for his second helper of the evening.
Medicine Hat held on for the 6-1 victory, pushing their record to 16-6-2 and putting them back at the top of the Eastern conference and tied for first in the WHL.
The Tigers next action is Wednesday when they head to Swift Current to take on the Broncos. Medicine Hat looks for some redemption against the Broncos, their last loss was at Swift Current on Nov. 14, falling 6-3.
