PHOTO COURTESY NATHAN REITER PRINCE ALBERT DAILY HERALD
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Ryder Ritchie carries the puck up ice in the first period of WHL action Wednesday at Prince Albert against the Raiders.
Special teams and special players made special plays for the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday.
The Tigers’ special teams led the way in a 3-1 win at Prince Albert over the Raiders, holding the East division leading club scoreless on five power plays and capitalizing on one of their two man advantages. Wednesday’s win, featured as the WHL’s Wednesday Night in the Dub game, was a rematch for the Tigers against Prince Albert who won 5-4 in overtime Saturday at Co-op Place.
The Tigers tallied a pair of goals in the first period, with Jonas Woo scoring 9:20 into the game on a power play. The 18-year-old blue liner had the puck at the point and wried a shot past Max Hildebrand for his 11th of the season, with Oasiz Wiesblatt picking up the lone assist.
The 20-year-old captain found the back of the net on his own later in the period, scoring on a breakaway. Tanner Molendyk fired a puck from the Tiger end up to Wiesblatt who streaked into the Prince Albert end all alone and faked a shot, freezing Hildebrand before skating around the overage net minder and tucking in his 26th of the season. Veeti Väisänen had the second assist as the Tigers led 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Prince Albert scored the lone goal of the middle frame, with Harrison Lodewyk sneaking a puck through Jordan Switzer’s five hole after a combination of saves, making it a 2-1 Medicine Hat lead. Niall Crocker and Lukas Dragicevic had the assists, both found the back of the net in the Raiders’ win Saturday over the Tigers.
The Raiders pushed in the third period, outshooting the Tigers 13-9 in the frame as they looked for the tie. After a missed opportunity on the empty net in the dying seconds, Medicine Hat sealed the win with an empty net goal from Marcus Pacheco. Gavin McKenna and former Raider Ryder Ritchie had the assists on Pacheco’s 10th of the season. The assist extends McKenna’s WHL-leading point streak to 30 games.
Jordan Switzer made 32 stops for his 19th win of the season. Across the ice from him, Hildebrand stopped 37 shots. On top of winning the special teams battle, the Tigers narrowly edged out the Raiders in the face-off dot, 23-22.
The Tigers came into the game Wednesday off a 5-3 win Tuesday at Saskatoon over the Blades. That win was head coach Willie Desjardins’ 510th career win, 500th behind the orange and black bench.
The Tigers (35-16-3-1) win the season series with the Raiders 3-1 and are off until Saturday when they open up a four-game home stand. They’ll host the Regina Pats on Saturday before the Lethbridge Hurricanes travel down the Highway 3 for a 2 p.m. contest on Family Day Monday.
Game notes
Attendance: Art Hauser Centre, 2,305
Three Stars
First star: PA Max Hildebrand (37 saves)
Second star: MH Oasiz Wiesblatt (1G, 1A)
Third star: PA Harrison Lodewyk (1G)
