NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Alex Worthington eyes up a blast from the point from Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Bryce Pickford in the first period of a 4-2 Tigers' loss Friday at Co-op Place.
The Medicine Hat Tigers couldn’t complete a second comeback Friday night at Co-op Place.
They trailed the Edmonton Oil Kings 2-0 after 20 minutes and tied the game up at 2-2 in the first-half of the second period before allowing two unanswered, ultimately falling 4-2. The loss is the third in a row for the Tigers, coming off a 7-6 loss Wednesday at Lethbridge to the Hurricanes.
That loss and Friday’s defeat shared a similarity, Medicine Hat took seven trips to the penalty box in both contests. They surrendered a pair of power play goals Friday night, also unable to capitalize on their six power plays. Head coach Willie Desjardins spoke about discipline heading into the contest and post game spoke about accountability.
“You just have to want to win bad enough,” Desjardins said. “You can’t take penalties, you just have to win bad enough. That’s something you just have to stay out and that’s something they got to decide as a group. They’ve talked about it, we just didn’t do it.”
Edmonton net minder Alex Worthington made 31 saves for the win. Across the ice from him, Harrison Meneghin stopped 22 shots.
“(Harrison) has played well for us, he’s made lots of key saves for us,” Desjardins said. “He’s getting a couple tough plays here and there on him, and it’s hard, but he’s played fine. It’s not him.”
Edmonton opened the scoring 3:46 into the game with a power play goal on a bobbling puck around the crease. Adam Jecho and Miroslav Holinka had the helpers on his eighth of the season.
The Oil Kings made it a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes with a one-timer blast from Holinka just 2:24 later. Lukas Sawchyn had the lone assist.
Medicine Hat outshot the Oil Kings 12-10 in the frame.
The Tigers found early momentum in the second.
Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, in the faceoff dot, took a pass from Matt Paranych at the point and blasted home his seventh of the season to get the Tigers on the bird. Jack Kachkowski with the second assist on the 2-1 goal at 6:32.
They tied the game up 4:21 later with the WHL’s leading scorer. Gavin McKenna drove with the puck to the side of the net and fired a shot on Worthington. He bounced the rebound off the back of the net minder’s glove and into the net for the tie game. Wiesblatt and Hunter St. Martin had the assists on McKenna’s 11th.
The Oil Kings regained momentum in the second half after the Tigers had breakaway chances from Andrew Basha and McKenna turned aside from Worthington.
Marshall Finnie redirected a point shot from Parker Alcos to make it a 3-2 game at 12:52. Woodward had the second assist.
With eight seconds left in the frame, after a scrum in front of Meneghin put the Tigers on the kill, Jecho scored on a rebound to make it a 4-2 lead. Both Gracyn Sawchyn and Lukas Sawchyn had the assists.
Before the end of the second period, Basha went down on a hit along the bench-side boards and was labouring while getting off the ice. He returned for a power play shift in the frame but was not on the ice in the third period. Desjardins hadn’t spoken to the Calgary Flames prospect before speaking with media.
Medicine Hat entered the game with just 17 skaters, six defenceman and 11 forwards which included defenceman Nate Corbet on the wing.
The Tigers pushed in the third, outshooting Edmonton 8-4, pulling Meneghin with 1:34 left in the game but couldn’t claw their way back into the contest, falling to 9-9 on the season. They’ll host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday night at Co-op Place.
