NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Marcus Pacheco celebrates Ryder Ritchie's first period goal, his first of the 6-3 Game 2 win at Co-op Place on Saturday over the Swift Current Broncos. Medicine Hat holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series with the win.
The Medicine Hat Tigers took care of home ice to open the first-round of the WHL playoffs.
Medicine Hat beat the Swift Current Broncos 6-3 Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round matchup. They blanked Swift Current 4-0 in Game 1 Friday on the back of a 21-save shutout from Harrison Meneghin. The 20-year-old net minder made 15 saves Saturday in the Game 2 win.
Forward Gavin McKenna finished with five points Saturday night, tallying a goal and four assists. He liked how they didn’t let Swift Current gain enough momentum to tie the game.
“They tried to rally back a few times and for us to steal the momentum from them a couple times, it was huge,” McKenna said. “Our third periods this whole year have been amazing and they’ve won us some big games.”
The Tigers opened the scoring in the first minute, igniting the 5,947 in attendance.
Bryce Pickford fired a shot on net that hit Reid Dyck’s glove, bouncing off the goaltender’s leather and into the net for the early 1-0 lead. Jonas Woo and McKenna had the assists on Pickford’s second of the series, McKenna’s assist gives him points in 42 straight games.
Swift Current responded 24 seconds later with their first goal of the series.
Grayson Burzynski had the puck in the Tiger zone at the end of a rush and he dished the puck to a streaking Brady Birnie who scored on a wide-open net to make it a 1-1 game. Luke Mistelbacher had the second assist.
Medicine Hat answered back with a pair of goals to end the frame with a 3-1 lead.
After Mat Ward picked off a pass in the neutral zone, he sent Ryder Ritchie all alone on a breakaway and the Minnesota Wild prospect scored his first of the playoffs, making it a 2-1 lead at 3:33. Niilopekka Muhonen had the second assist.
They found success on a power play before the middle of the opening period.
Just as the power play scored in Friday’s 4-0 Game 1 win, Liam Ruck had the puck in the circles to the right of Reid Dyck, sending a pass to Wiesblatt for an easy tap-in and his first of the night.
Medicine Hat outshot the Broncos 11-10 in the opening frame. Swift Current led the second in goal scoring as the Tigers escaped with a one-goal advantage.
Before the 10-minute mark, Connor Dale had the puck at the Tiger blue line, drawing attention from the Medicine Hat defenders. He hit Rylan Gould with a pass and the 19-year-old Bronco skated in on Meneghin and scored his first of the series to bring Swift Current within one at 8:36.
Later in the frame, Medicine Hat capitalized on a second power play with Wiesblatt again getting the goal.
McKenna threw a puck on net from the point and Hunter St. Martin redirected a shot that snuck through Dyck, sitting in the crease. Wiesblatt knocked it into the net for his second of the night, fifth of the series and the 4-2 lead at 10:40.
Before the frame could end, Swift Current drew within one. Clarke Caswell had the puck behind the Tiger net and he spun off of a check, reaching out for a wraparound goal to make it a 4-3 game with 4:30 left in the middle frame. Birnie and Marek Rocák had the assists.
Ritchie was called for a second penalty to end the frame, a slashing penalty on a middle-ice hit that carried 49 seconds into the third period. Medicine Hat was left in the air on a call in the second stanza as Ward was high sticked on a hit, left bleeding on the ice with no penalty.
Medicine Hat killed off the remaining penalty time los tart the third period and held Swift Current to just three shots in the final frame, preserving the win. Head coach Willie Desjardins liked his team’s response throughout the game.
“They have a good team, they came good and hard in the second, we were up a little bit, let it slip but we had a good third period,” Desjardins said.
“We regrouped, we got our composure and we played hard.”
They added to their tally in the process, with Ritchie scoring his second of the night, capitalizing on a third power play. Dyck was bumped into by a mess of players as a rebound went out into open ice. Ritchie fired it towards the net, scoring his second of the contest for the 5-3 lead with 3:53 left in the game. McKenna and Woo had the assists. The pair of goals and three-point night gives the 18-year-old Ritchie a bump as the playoffs carry on.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster for myself, contributing for a big win tonight,” Ritchie said. “It always helps your confidence and most importantly, helps the team.”
The Tigers iced the win with an empty net goal. Wiesblatt carried the puck up ice, passed to Ritchie who passed to McKenna for the goal, his first of the playoffs, making it a 6-3 final.
Wiesblatt finished with two goals and an assist, Woo had two assists as well.
Medicine Hat outshot the Broncos for a second game, leading 33-18. They won the face-off battle 38-22 and the special teams race, scoring 3-6 on the power play also holding Swift Current scoreless on five man advantages.
The series shifts down the Trans Canada Highway to Speedy Creek for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
See Tuesday’s News for more on the first two games of the Tigers and Broncos first-round series.
Game notes
Three stars
First star: MH Gavin McKenna (1G, 4A)
Second star: MH Ryder Ritchie (2G, 2A)
Third star: MH Oasiz Wiesblatt (2G, 1A)
