NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna celebrates his second goal in the first period of Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen at Co-op Place.
A little Hump Day action got the Medicine Hat Tigers over the .500 mark.
The Tigers won 4-2 Wednesday night at Co-op Place, beating the Calgary Hitmen for a 6-5 record on the young season. It’s a second win in a row for Medicine Hat, with the last game on Oct. 18 a 6-3 win at Moose Jaw over the Warriors.
Goaltender Harrison Meneghin made 20 saves for his fourth win as a Tiger and he described Wednesday’s win as a turning point for the team.
“Getting over that .500 marker, it’s important for us to see,”Meneghin said. “We have such good third periods, we just need to apply that same energy to the first and second.”
The net minder’s observation mirrored head coach Willie Desjardins who liked the win for his group but he also wants to see more fire.
“Our intensity could have been a little bit better, but I thought it was good, they’re a good hockey team,” Desjardins said. “Calgary is a really good team and they’re tough to play. We’re really short guys and and it makes it hard.”
Calgary got on the board first Wednesday night, their lone lead in the game.
Hitmen forward Ben Kindel knocked in a rebound in front of Meneghin to open the scoring 9:41 into the contest.
The Tigers responded with a pair of goals from Gavin McKenna.
The 16-year-old had the puck in the Calgary end and threw a puck on net from the point, finding twine. His first of the frame made it a 1-1 game at 12:44, Hunter St. Martin and Oasiz Wiesblatt had the assist.
Just under four minutes later, on a power play, Andrew Basha carried the puck down the ice on an odd man rush and slid a pass cross-ice to McKenna for the one timer. Bryce Pickford had the second assist. McKenna’s second of the frame and fifth on the season made it 2-1 Medicine Hat after 20 minutes.
McKenna credited his line mates for the pair of goals.
“That was a big power play goal for our team,” McKenna said. “My line has been playing pretty well, I’ve played with them for last year now, so we’ve built some good chemistry and we just have to keep it rolling.”
The Hitmen tied the game up in the second. On the first of the three Calgary power plays in the period, Carson Wetsch batted a puck out of the air in the crease for the 2-2 tied. The goal was reviewed quickly but remained.
Medicine Hat snagged the win early in the third with a pair of goals scored just 46 seconds apart.
A Calgary defender had the puck in their end and sent a pass into the middle of the ice that was intercepted by Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. The 15-year-old sent the puck across the ice in the Calgary end to a fresh off the bench St. Martin who streaked in and scored his seventh of the season for the 3-2 lead 4:05 into the frame.
They made it the 4-2 final seconds later, with Pickford firing a shot from the point that redirected off a Hitmen defender. Hats rained down from the 2,895 in attendance, with visions of a McKenna hat trick. The 16-year-old told the News he didn’t get a touch on the puck, giving Pickford his third goal on the season. Wiesblatt had the second assist on the insurance marker.
Medicine Hat held on for the win, getting out-shot 22-17 on the night. Both teams were one-for-five on special teams. Across the ice from Meneghin, Calgary starter Ethan Buenaventura made 13 saves.
Bad blood brewed over post game as both teams had players pushing and shoving on the ice after the final buzzer blew. Both benches were jawing back and forth with coaches seemingly involved in the banter. Calgary defenceman Carter Yakemchuk was assessed a roughing double minor and a 10-minute misconduct. Wetsch also received a roughing minor. For Medicine Hat, defenceman Nate Corbet received a two-minute roughing penalty and forward Mat Ward got a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The two teams face off on Oct. 30 at Calgary’s Saddledome.
Before then, the Tigers (6-5) head to Red Deer on Friday to face the Rebels for the fifth time already this season.
