PHOTO COURTESY PATRICK KEMPANY/ PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin makes a blocker save on Portland Winterhawks' forward Diego Buttazzoni in the second period of WHL action Friday at Portland's Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Medicine Hat Tigers rose to the occasion in the City of Roses Friday night.
The Tigers had two, three-goal periods to beat the Portland Winterhawks 7-2 for a 12th win in a row. Friday’s victory also preserves the Tigers’ perfect record on the U.S. division trip, sitting at 5- following the penultimate contest on the six-game trip.
Head coach Willie Desjardins said the game was closer than the scoresheet.
“They had a couple tough calls on goals coming back and that’s hard for them,” Desjardins told PNW Hockey Talk.
“It’s close, they hit the crossbar and we go down and score and it breaks it open. It’s one of those games where lots of things went right our way. They’re a good team, the last half of the third they took charge but we had enough by then.”
All three of Gavin Mckenna, Oasiz Wiesblatt and Ryder Ritchie tallied a goal and two assists for three point nights. For McKenna, his second assist of the ninth was point No. 200 in his 118 career WHL games.
“It’s pretty cool,” McKenna told PNW Hockey Talk of the milestone. “I have to live lots of credit to the guys I’ve been around for awhile, Oasiz I’ve played with for my whole career here. He’s been unbelievable to play with and lots of credit to him.”
A wild night started with the first Portland goal to be called back.
The Winterhawks appeared to score 3:54 as Medicine Hat product Ryan Miller stripped Medicine Hat net minder Harrison Meneghin of the puck behind the Tiger net and fed Alex Weiermair in front for the goal. But the goal was called back due to an offside.
As a result, the Tigers were first on the board less than five minutes later, capitalizing on a failed clear by the Winterhawks. McKenna set Wiesblatt up for a tap-in goal and the Tiger captain recorded his 23rd of the season. Ritchie had the second assist. McKenna’s helper extends his WHL-leading point streak to 25 games.
A little over five minutes after the Tigers first goal, they struck a second time with a power play marker. Tanner Molendyk held the puck at the point and skated in, showing patience before unleashing a laser that found twine for his sixth of the season. Ritchie and Wiesblatt had the helpers as the score sat 2-1 at 12:20.
Medicine Hat’s leading scorer reached the 20o-point milestone 3:19 later, as McKenna set Ritchie up for a wrist shot at the face-off dot in the Portland end that beat Marek Schlenker for a 3-0 lead.
Meneghin made a bundle of saves around the crease on a penalty kill to end the period, keeping it a 3-0 lead.
The wildness continued into the second, with the Winterhawks suffering a second goal called back.
Portland was on power play with a delayed call on the Tigers coming to make it a five-on-three power play. Kyle Chyzowski, who was tripped up at the blue line for the second call, scored bar down on Meneghin with a wrist shot.
The goal, much to the dismay of the 4,806 in attendance, was called back due a missed whistle, sending the Tigers to the two-man penalty kill. They managed to hold Portland scoreless on the advantages, maintaining the 3-0 lead. After the penalties expired, Tiger defenceman Veeti Väisänen and Portland’s Miller dropped the gloves.
Later in the second, at the end of a third penalty kill in the period, Medicine Hat struck. Hunter St. Martin flew up the ice with the puck, screaming into the Portland end before wiring a shot past the Portland net minder for his 30th of the season and the 4-0 lead at 1:35.
Portland got on the board before the frame ended, scoring off a face-off in the Tiger end. Diego Buttazzoni nudged a loose puck to Josh Zakreski who wasted no time firing home his 28th of the season to make it a 4-1 score at 18:04 of the middle frame.
The Tigers scored first in the third period, with some twin magic on display.
Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll started a three-on-one rush from the Tigers end, sending a pass in the neutral zone to Markus Ruck, who carried the puck into the Portland end. He sends a pass to younger twin brother Liam Ruck in the slot and he scored his 16th of the season, making it a 5-1 lead at 7:10.
Following a media timeout, 67 seconds after Liam Ruck’s goal, McKenna tallied point No. 201. He broke into the Portland end off a face-off and fired a shot through the legs of a defender and into the net for his 26th of the season and the 6-1 lead. Wiesblatt recorded the lone assist. The goal gives McKenna six goals in the five U.S. division trip, an amount he attributes to his teammates and also firing more pucks on net.
“I’ve been using my teammates a little bit, early on in the game to try and get defenders to cheat the pass a little bit and I think that opens up shots for me,” McKenna said. “I haven’t been shooting as much but I think they’ve been going in and I’ve had better shot selection so that’s been good.”
The Tigers kept piling on, scoring the seventh of the night less than two minutes later. Jonas Woo held the puck at the point and worked his way into the slot, decking around a stick laying on the ice and a defender dropping to a knee to block a shot. But the Tiger blue liner was not stopped, wiring a wrist shot top shelf for his 10th of the season to make it a 7-1 lead at 10:11. Misha Volotovskii and Bryce Pickford had the assists.
Portland showed life 51 seconds later, with Zakreski nothing his second of the game off a rush opportunity.
That was the final goal of the contest as the Tigers secured the 7-2 win. Meneghin finished his night with 26 saves, recording his 14th win of the season. He’s picked up a seventh straight win, picking up the victory in all seven games he’s appeared in since returning from injury. Across the ice from him, Schlenker made 25 saves.
Medicine Hat outshot the Winterhawks 32-28, also winning the face-off battle 29-27. The Tigers went 1-1 on the power play, Portland held scoreless on four power plays.
“Our penalty kill was out standing and then we got the one on the power play which was a big goal, the second one, that got us on our way,” Desjardins said. “A lot of things went right for us and a lot of things didn’t go right for them. It wasn’t that the teams weren’t really close, just one of those nights where we got some breaks.”
The Tigers (33-15-2) end the month of January with a record of 12-1. They’re off to Seattle on Saturday to face the Thunderbirds for the final of the U.S. division road trip.
With files from Josh Critzer, PNW Hockey Talk.
Game Notes
Three Stars
First star: MH Ryder Ritchie (1G, 2A)
Second star: POR Josh Zakreski (2G)
Third star: POR Diego Buttazzoni (1A)
