NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin reaches out the paddle to make a first period save during the Tigers 3-0 win Wednesday at Co-op Place over the Red Deer Rebels.
The fourth time was the charm for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak, three of those coming against Red Deer, with a 3-0 win Wednesday night over the Rebels at Co-op Place.
They got back into the win column off the back off a 24-save shutout from Harrison Meneghin, his fifth career shutout.
“We’ve seen the other side of that plenty of the past couple years, so great to have him on our side,” forward Andrew Basha said in his review of Meneghin’s second start as a Tigers.
It was a bounce-back of sorts for Meneghin, who looked solid in his Tigers’ debut on Oct. 5, stopping 23 of 27 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 20-year-old net minder joked wearing a Tigers’ helmet instead of his Lethbridge Hurricanes’ mask gave him the confidence for the shutout.
“It’s nice knowing that if I let one in, the guys have a good chance to score a goal,” Meneghin said. “I have a lot of confidence in my teammates, so it helps me play a nice, calm game. Personally, it just feels great, I think the helmet helped.”
The Tigers entered the game missing forward Mat Ward (day to day) and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen (week to week) and found themselves more shorthanded as the game went on. Defenceman Bryce Pickford was out of the game late in the first after receiving a game misconduct for a kneeing penalty. Pickford hit Rebels’ forward Kalan Lind at centre ice and received the kneeing major and game misconduct, as well as a fighting major for the hit. Lind did not return to the game.
They also lost forward Ryder Ritchie in the second period. On a late power play, the 18-year-old was hit in the face with the skate of a falling Oasiz Wiesblatt in front of the Red Deer crease. He immediately skated off, went down the tunnel and did not return to the game. Head coach Willie Desjardins says the blade missed his eye but had no further update.
Neither team scored in the first period, Red Deer had a pair of power plays in the first three minutes of the game. They didn’t capitalize and both teams finished the first 20 minutes with 10 shots a piece.
Medicine Hat got on the board exactly 10 minutes into the second period.
Basha got knocked down on a hit from behind along the wall in the Red Deer end. The 19-year-old got up and on the delayed penalty, scored a one-timer for his second of the season. Ritchie and Hayden Harsanyi had the assists. With his helper, Ritchie recorded his first point with the Tigers and his 100th WHL point.
Medicine Hat outshot the Rebels 20-16 through 40 minutes, they added a pair of goals in the third to hold on for the win.
On a rush opportunity, Oasiz Wiesblatt passed the puck to Gavin McKenna who created a rebound with a shot that was knocked in by a trailing Matt Paranych. His second of the season came 12:25 into the final frame.
Before the game, Wiesblatt was named the 41st captain in franchise history.
“It’s an honour, Wiesblatt said. “There have been so many great captains before me and the last five years I’ve had some great leaders to learn from.”
See Friday’s paper for more on Wiesblatt and the Tigers’ leadership group.
Red Deer pulled starter Chase Wutzke late in the game, looking to get on the board. With 1:49 left in the game, Markus Ruck floated a puck down the ice like a curveball, taking one bounce into the net. Paranych and Kadon McCann had the helpers on Ruck’s second of the season.
The Tigers outshot Red Deer 30-24 in the win, the Rebels narrowly won the face-off battle 32-30. Neither team capitalized on the power play, Red Deer had four opportunities and Medicine Hat three. Across the ice from Meneghin, Wutzke made 27 saves.
Medicine Hat has an off day Thursday before a pair of home games, hosting the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday and the Vancouver Giants on Saturday. Desjardins says they have to play with more discipline and keep the foot on the pedal.
“We can’t go down to Red Deer like that, those were calls that are penalties, the ref has to call those,” Desjardins said. “We have to be smarter, and we gotta stay out of the box.”
