NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna celebrates his first of two goals in a 5-1 win at Co-op Place on Nov. 15 over the Victoria Royals.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers head on the road looking to prolong a win streak.
The Tigers are at Saskatoon tonight, taking on the Blades for the first time this season, and enter the four-game week with a three-game win streak as a result of a 5-1 win Nov. 15 at Co-op Place over the Victoria Royals.
“It’s huge, our defensive game’s come a long way, that was just a huge win,” starter Harrison Meneghin said after collecting his seventh win of the season. “Just to build off that win in Edmonton. If we keep doing that every night, I don’t think there’s many teams that even have a chance against us.”
Medicine Hat outshot the Royals 36-14, Gavin McKenna scored a pair of goals, Veeti Vaisanen had a pair of assists, and all three of Markus Ruck, Ryder Ritchie and Kadon McCann found twine. McKenna, who remains atop the WHL scoring race with 13 goals and 41 points, also appreciated the Tigers defensive game.
“Everyone talks about our team as such an offensive team, so for us playing that defensive game is huge,” McKenna said. “It brings a lot of confidence to our defensive game. With JVM back in the lineup it was nice having him back there, and all of our defence, they’ve all been playing great. Everyone’s stepped up as a team.”
Friday’s win marked the first time in almost a month they played with 18 skaters in a lineup. Defenceman Matt Paranych was slotted at forward but the lineup was supplemented by the return of Ritchie and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen. Both missed an extended amount of time with upper-body injuries.
“It’s awesome to be back, it’s so hard watching and just getting to be back and playing with the guys, it’s awesome,” Ritchie said. “I felt pretty comfortable there, obviously my first game in a month, so felt a little bit out of rhythm to start, but I thought I got better as the game went on.”
The Tigers also got their first look at 19-year-old forward Ethan Neutens, acquired from the Kelowna Rockets, along with two draft picks, on Nov. 14 in exchange for 18-year-old defenceman Nate Corbet. Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins liked his first look at the forward.
He says the trade was a difficult one to make.
“Nate wanted to play defence, he didn’t really want to play up front,” Desjardins said. “We have quite a few defence, he was better for us up front, so it was too bad. He’s a really character guy, I’m disappointed to lose him, but that sometimes happens.”
That deal marks the sixth trade made by the Tigers since the middle of August, with the acquisitions of Ritchie, Meneghin and now Neutens. It’s meant the subtraction of forwards Tomas Mrsic, Shane Smith, Brayden Boehm, Corbet on the blue line and goaltenders Zach Zahara and Ethan McCallum. It’s a tally of trades not lost on Desjardins.
“I don’t like it at all, the Meneghin trade I had make four trades out of that one, which was really hard,” Desjardins said. “Corbet was a tough trade, he’s a tough guy to lose. It’s been a really hard year that way and not something we want to do.”
The Tigers will remain in Saskatoon after the game tonight before heading to face Prince Albert on Wednesday, the first time Ritchie will face the Raiders since being traded to Medicine Hat. They’ll have a travel day Thursday before facing off against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday at Rogers Place, where Medicine Hat won 2-1 on Nov. 13.
The Tigers finish off the week at home, hosting the Blades on Saturday.
Saskatoon is off to a hot start coming off an East finals loss last season. They sit second in the East division with a 13-5-1-1 record, with an 8-0-1 home record. Prince Albert has rebounded from a slow start, winning seven of their last 10 led by Mrsic’s team-leading 13 goals and 25 points.
“They’re all going to be hard, we just have to be ready,” Desjardins said. “It’s going to be a tough week, we know that. But guys want to play so this will be a good week.”
They will be without Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha, as the forward is considered week to week with an upper body injury, per Desjardins after practice Monday.
