NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oasiz Wiesblatt gives props to forward Andrew Basha for assisting on his third period power play goal in a 5-2 win Tuesday night at Co-op Place over the Regina Pats.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers picked up two points Tuesday night in the least prettiest way.
The Tigers were outshot 31-24 by the visiting Regina Pats and were held together in the 5-2 win by goaltender Zach Zahara’s 29 saves, including multiple breakaway and point-blank stops.
It was a win head coach Willie Desjardins says could have been put away earlier in the night but he says they let Regina stay in the game. He says the Tigers need to work harder if they want success beyond a Tuesday night in February.
“We didn’t work hard enough, we were gambling for offence,” Desjardins said. “Guys were looking for points and we didn’t play good.
“That won’t win us many hockey games if we play like that.”
Desjardins was frustrated to see that kind of effort in game 50 of the season. He says he has a lot of confidence in the group, he sees a lot of positives and says they’ll address it through video work.
“I have a great group of guys, like outstanding, these guys have battled all year and given everything they’ve had in lots of tough, tough games,” Desjardins said. “So I like my group, it’s a great group, but I thought we could have been better.”
Regina scored early in the first period before the Tigers rattled off four unanswered through 40 minutes. Gavin Mckenna (22) and Oasiz Wiesblatt each scored in the first and Andrew Basha (22) tallied two in the second for the 4-1 lead. After the Pats drew within one early in the third, Wiesblatt potted his second power play goal of the night and 22nd on the season for the 5-2 final.
Wiesblatt echoed Desjardins’ viewpoint on the game, and says they will work on their game but are happy for the two points.
“We had some energy coming into the game, but not a great game from us, we were lacking in a few things,” Wiesblatt said. “We obviously came out with the two points and played a hard 60, it was good to get two points after that weekend.”
Wiesblatt and Basha finished their nights with two goals and an assist each and McKenna had three assists with his goal. Defenceman Bogdans Hodass also recorded two helpers.
The Tigers didn’t waste time to put corrections from Tuesday’s win into motion. Wednesday’s practice was a hard, skate-filled session that was delayed by extended work breaking down video from the win. Associate coach Joe Frazer says they cleared up the issues in the video work and says the group continues to excel at making adjustments from errors.
Frazer says the ability to make adjustments goes beyond winning games.
“It’s about what do we want, what’s our goal, and that’s to win a championship, so there has to be that standard of excellence whether you win or lose, it’s how did we play,” Frazer said. “Everybody talks about the process nowadays and that’s just what it is. If you’re playing the right way, you’re going to win more than you lose. Last night, we were fortunate to get the two points, it wasn’t our best game.
“Now we just have learn from that, we have to make sure our game’s clicking. We have six weeks left in the regular season, we have to make sure each practice is super important, but we have to get our game dialled in so when playoff starts, we’re on top of it.”
Tuesday’s win was the 30th of the season for the orange and black, matching their 2022-23 season total with 18 games remaining on the season. Basha was in his sophomore season last year and says already collecting 30 wins shows the jump they’ve made as a group.
“It just speaks to how much we’ve grown,” Basha said. “There’s still lots hockey to be played and we want to win every single game here, so a big 18 games left.”
