NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Newly acquired Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin makes a pad save in the first period of the Tigers' 6-3 loss Saturday night at Co-op Place to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
The Medicine Hat Tigers fell short Saturday night at Co-op Place.
The Tigers pushed in the third period, trailing Moose Jaw 4-3, but couldn’t claw back to ultimately fall 6-3.
The loss marks the fourth in a row for the Tigers, following three-straight to the Red Deer Rebels, the latest a 6-3 loss Friday at Red Deer.
Head coach Willie Desjardins tipped his hat to the Warriors’ experience for holding onto the win.
“They have a good group, they have 16 guys from their championship group, so that’s a lot of guys back,” Desjardins said. “(Brayden) Yager is a good player, he makes a difference when he’s on the ice. Saying that, we have lots of good players too. We just have to find a way and right now we’re just coming up a little short in every game.”
Medicine Hat made news coming into the game, acquiring 20-year-old goaltender Harrison Meneghin from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. They sent 19-year-old forward Shane Smith to the Hurricanes and in a corresponding move, traded 20-year-old Brayden Boehm to the Victoria Royals for a third round pick in the 2026 WHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 Draft.
Desjardins liked his first look at Meneghin, who made 23 saves in the loss.
“He’s going to be a good, key player for us, and we know that,” Desjardins said. “We’re just going to have to keep working. He’s gonna give us a chance and we’ll work our way into it.”
See Tuesday’s paper for more on the trades.
The Tigers roared out to an early 2-0 lead Saturday in the first frame, much to the pleasure of the 4,010 in attendance.
Just 3:31 into the first period, Hunter St. Martin knocked in a rebound from Bryce Pickford. Gavin McKenna had the second assist.
A little over seven minutes later, St. Martin struck again finishing off a rush opportunity for the 2-0 lead. McKenna had the second assist.
Moose Jaw answered back with three-straight goals in the first.
Forward Noah Degenstein knocked in a rebound at 12:12. Just 40 seconds later, Deegan Kinniburgh also scored off a rebound to tie the game up at 2-2
The Warriors grabbed a lead with a power play goal from Brayden Schuurman, putting them ahead 3-2 2:55 left in the first.
They scored again early in the second for the 4-2 lead. During a change of possession in the neutral zone, Moose Jaw carried the puck into the Tigers’ end and Schuurman wristed a puck past Meneghin for the two-goal lead.
Medicine Hat responded late on a power play.
Andrew Basha had the puck near the faceoff dot in the Moose Jaw end and sent a pass to Oasiz Wiesblatt in the crease. The 20-year-old wasted no time, knocking it in to make it a 4-3 game after 20 minutes. McKenna had the second assist.
The Tigers pushed in the third period, getting chances but firing shots into defenders or Moose Jaw’s Jackson Unger stood tall to preserve the lead.
Moose Jaw scored a pair of empty net goals, with Rilen Kovacevic and Brayden Yager both finding the empty cage for the 6-3 final.
Unger made 24 saves in the win for Moose Jaw. The Warriors out battled the Tigers in the face-off dot, 34-26. They made good on one of their three power plays, Tigers were one-for-two.
St. Martin liked the Tigers’ compete in Saturday’s game compared to the loss in Red Deer the night prior.
“We played more as a team and we were pushing,” St. Martin said. “We had a lot of chances that could have gone in tonight and but it just didn’t go in. So we just back to work this week in practice, keep building. We have to get better as a group because this is not the start we wanted. It’s just a lot of work to do in practice and keep building on our team.”
The Tigers (1-4) are off Sunday and Monday before they host the Rebels on Wednesday.
