Tigers outlast visiting Rockets for win Tuesday

By James Tubb on March 4, 2025.

NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oasiz Wiesblatt battles for position with former teammate, Kelowna Rockets defenceman Nate Corbet, in the third period of a 5-2 win Tuesday at Co-op Place.

A win is a win is a win resonates loud with the Medicine Hat Tigers’ win Tuesday.

The Tigers beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets 5-2, scoring three times in the third period to secure the win over the 2026 Memorial Cup hosts who sit at the bottom of the Western conference. Tuesday’s win, the Tigers fifth in a row, gives them a 4-1 season record over the B.C. division.

“It’s a huge two points any time you can win,” associate coach Joe Frazer said. “It was a good job staying resilient. We didn’t have out best first two periods, but I thought our third period was much better.:

Tigers’ net minder Jordan Switzer came into the game with history on the horizon, riding a three-game shutout streak that had him 16:06 away from the franchise record for time without allowing a goal and just under 60 minutes from the WHL record.

Kelowna opened the game with something opponents hadn’t done in 2:19:48 on Switzer, find the back of the net.

Rockets’ forward Hayden Paupanekis kicked things off on a rush, breaking through the Tigers’ defence on a breakaway and scoring at 10:05 for the 1-0 lead. His goal ends Switzer’s shutout streak at 2:19:48, just 6:01 short of the Tigers’ franchise shutout record.

Medicine Hat tied the game up a little over three minutes later with some puck luck.

Markus Ruck had the puck up near the point in the Kelowna end and fired a shot towards the net that bounced off the skate of Rockets’ defenceman Will Sharpe and past net minder Rhett Stoesser at 13:12. Josh Van Mulligan and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the assists on his eighth of the season.

“It was a tough start for us, going down early,” Markus said. “Not our best game but we pulled through and got the two points, which is all we needed.”

Before the period came to a close, Kelowna grabbed a lead with a power play.

As the clock ticked down, Kayden Longley had the puck behind the Tiger net. He sent a pass out front to Paupanekis who one-touched it past Switzer for the 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Former Tiger defenceman Nate Corbet had the second assist on the goal.

Tuesday night was Corbet’s first game against the Tigers since he was traded to Kelowna on Nov. 14, 2024 in a deal that sent forward Ethan Neutens to Medicine Hat. The contest also served as his and Marcus Pacheco’s first games against the Rockets. Pacheco was acquired on Dec. 31, 2023.

The first period was tied in shots 11-11.

“You have to give them credit, they worked hard and they won a lot of 50-50 battles,” Frazer said about the Rockets.

“We didn’t play our game until the third period, so have to give them a lot of credit.”

Medicine Hat tied the game up in the second half of the second period. With a delayed power play, referee’s arms hanging in the air waiting to make a call, the Tigers had six skaters on the ice who toyed with the Rockets’ in the offensive end. They fired shot after shot on Stoesser, picking up the rebound before the Rockets could touch the puck.

Finally, Liam Ruck blasted a one-timer from the bottom of the circles that found twine, tying the game up at 2-2 with 3:54 left in the frame. Pacheco and captain Oasiz Wiesblatt had the assists on Liam’s 20th of the season. The assists extending Wiesblatt’s point streak to seven games and Pacheco’s to four games.

The Tigers grabbed the lead in quick succession in the third.

After some back and forth play throughout the frame, Medicine Hat had possession in the Kelowna end. Liam Ruck threw a puck on net from the point and it found twine, making its way around skaters before settling behind Stoesser for Medicine Hat’s first lead of the night. Defenceman Veeti Väisänen had the lone assist on Ruck’s 21st.

The 17-year-old smiled describing the simplistic goal.

“Just trying to throw the puck on net and it worked out,” Liam said.

The Tigers scored again 58 seconds later, capitalizing on a rebound.

Neutens put a shot on net that Mat Ward cleaned up and put in the back of the net for the 4-2 lead. Väisänen had the second assist on his 17th of the season.

Before Kelowna could push to get back in the game, some fisticuffs occurred between Wiesblatt and Corbet. The two squared off for a quick bout near the Medicine Hat bench. They ended up with an early night, receiving 10 minutes misconducts as well as the fighting majors.

The Tigers killed off the penalty and after Kelowna pulled the goalie, capitalized on the open net. Ryder Ritchie cleared the puck and it tumbled down the ice, into the net for his 25th of the season and the 5-2 final.

Switzer finished his night with 23 saves, picking up his 23rd win of the season. Across the ice from him, the former Red Deer Rebel Rhett Stoesser made 33 saves. Tigers outshot the Rockets 38-25, also winning the face-off battle 38-26. The Rockets were 1-4 on the power play, Tigers went scoreless on three power plays.

Forward Gavin McKenna served the final contest of his three-game suspension. They were also without forward Kadon McCann who missed his third game with an upper-body injury.

The Tigers (42-17-3-1) are off until Friday when they head to Red Deer to face the Rebels.