NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Ryder Ritchie beats Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Carson Bjarnason with a deke in the third period of a 7-5 win Friday at Co-op Place.
The Medicine Hat Tigers got the final punch in a slug fest Friday night at Co-op Place.
The Tigers and Brandon Wheat Kings traded scores in a 12-goal affair, with Medicine Hat coming out on top 7-5. It’s a win that snaps a two-game slide for the Tigers, the last a 4-3 overtime loss Nov. 23 at home to the Saskatoon Blades.
The contest was an extreme contrast of the last meeting between the clubs, much to the delight of the 3,068 in attendance. Brandon won the last meeting, a 3-0 Wheat Kings win at home on Nov. 2.
“It’s great to get the two points,” associate coach Joe Frazer said. “A lot of perseverance, it wasn’t easy. (Jordan) Switzer was great in net, but we were just staying resilient. It wasn’t our best game of the year, but it’s huge to get the two points.”
Switzer made 35 saves in his third-straight start, taking the reins between the pipes with 20-year-old Harrison Meneghin out of the lineup with a lower body injury.
Medicine Hat opened the scoring Friday night with a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes.
Off a turnover in the Brandon end, Liam Ruck sent a pass to brother Markus across the slot for a tap-in goal at 2:59. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the second on Markus’ fourth of three season.
Just 4:23 later, Mat Ward fired a shot off the post that trickled past Carson Bjarnason for the 2-0 lead. Both Rucks had the assist on Ward’s fifth of the year.
Brandon drew offence in the first period from their youngest player.Jaxon Jacobson scored at 14:34 to make it a 2-1 game. Brady Turko and Carter Klippenstein had the assists on the 15-year-old’s first of the night.
The Tigers had final honours in the period.
Ward had the puck in the neutral zone and with a defender barring down, sprung Kadon McCann who went back hand forehand for a breakaway goal at 17:02. His third of the season put Medicine Hat ahead 3-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period was full of offence, with six goals total.
Brandon kicked things off with a rebound goal from Matteo Michels 2:13 into the period. Charlie Elick fired the shot on net to create the rebound, getting an assist on Michels’ seventh.
Medicine Hat responded on a rush. Oasiz Wiesblatt drove into the Brandon end down his right side and wired a shot top shelf on Bjarnason for a 4-2 lead.l at 3:48. Gavin Mckenna had the lone assist on Wiesblatt’s 11th, extending the Whitehorse, Yukon product’s point streak to 10 games.
The Wheat Kings tied the game up at 4-4 with a pair of power play goals in 6:46 of action.
Nicholas Johnson scored first on the man advantage, finding twine at 6:31 to make it a one goal game. Turko and Michels had the assists on his sixth.
The Wheat Kings tied the game up with a rebound goal from Jacobson at 13:17, his second of the game and fifth of the season. Mantei and Petr had the assists.
The Tigers regained a brief lead 1:25 later.
Gordon-Carroll picked up the puck at the blue line in the Wheat Kings end and broke into slot, firing a wrist shot that trickled through Bjarnason for 5-4 lead. Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo had the assists on Gordon-Carroll’s fourth of the season.
Brandon tied the game up with 1:54 left in the second. A turnover in the Medicine Hat end found Petr’s stick and he set Luke Shipley up for a one-timer. Johnson had the second assist on Shipley’s third of the season. Frazer says the Wheat Kings excel at creating chances and took advantage in the middle frame.
“They’re a great hockey team, they’re second in the league in creating outnumbered rushes,” Frazer said. “They do a really good job pushing out, they have a lot of speed up front and skill, so you have to give them a ton of credit because they created those chances. We didn’t do a great job with our F3 like we’ve talked about. But it was great seeing in the third that we limited their chances off the rush.”
Medicine Hat took all the scoring in the third period for the win.
Just 5:43 into the final frame, McKenna and Ryder Ritchie broke into the Brandon end on a two-on-one. McKenna sent a pass to Ritchie it deked and scored on Bjarnason for the 6-5 lead. Wiesblatt had the second assist on Ritchie’s fourth of the season. The Minnesota Wild prospect extended his point streak to seven games with the goal and he credited his line mates for the opportunity.
“A great play by Oasiz to kind of draw the defenceman in and make a bump pass to Gavin,” Ritchie said. “Then Gave, with a nice little saucer pass to me and I just tried to freeze and pull it to my backhand, and it ended up working.”
Medicine Hat capped off the game at 10:10 with a first in the WHL for the final scored.
The Tigers held possession in the Brandon end on a delayed penalty. Defenceman Veeti Väisänen fired a shot from the point that snapped in mid-air like a curveball and found twine for his first in the WHL. Ritchie and McKenna had the assists on his goal. The Finnish defenceman was all smiles after the game.
“It was great to score, not the nicest goal I’ve scored but it doesn’t matter,” Väisänen said. “It gets the monkey off the back.”
Brandon pushed late, getting their eighth power play of the game with 3:02 left on the clock. Head coach Marty Murray pulled the goalie and the Wheat Kings pushed to bring the game within one. The Tigers held them at bay, securing the 7-5 win.
Across the ice from Switzer, Bjarnason made 27 saves. Brandon finished 2/8 on the power play, Medicine Hat 1/5. The Wheat Kings vastly won the face-off battle, 43-25 and led the game in shots 40-34.
The Tigers (14-11-1) host the new-look Calgary Hitmen on Saturday, the first time they’re facing the division rival since Calgary acquired Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Tanner Howe from the Regina Pats and Minnesota Wild defence prospect Kalem Parker from the Moose Jaw Warriors. Ritchie is the most familiar against the pair, playing in the East division with the Prince Albert Raiders last season.
“Parker is a solid defenceman, he can move the puck,” Ritchie said. “How is obviously a good player. He works hard, he’s physical, he kind of brings a little bit of grit scale and can shoot the puck. So those are two big adds for them.”
