NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Ryder Ritchie celebrates a third period power play goal, his second marker Saturday night, in a 6-3 game 2 win at Co-op Place over the Swift Current Broncos.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Where does a 2-0 series lead get packed onto a bus?
According to the Medicine Hat Tigers, their early advantage wasn’t allowed on the trip to Swift Current – they’ll head to Speedy Creek with a clean-slate mindset.
“We still have more to bring, they’re a really good team, they play hard and they’re really structured,” captain Oasiz Wiesblatt said about the Broncos. “It’s just important that we forget about these two wins and just come into the game Tuesday with a fresh mindset and play hard.”
The Tigers leave the opening weekend of the WHL playoffs with a pair of wins and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round series against the Broncos. A 4-0 win Friday and a 6-3 victory Saturday gave them wins in 12 straight games, matching their season-high streak.
They’ll look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead tonight when they face the Broncos at Swift Current’s InnovationPlex.
An emotional win Friday saw goaltender Harrison Meneghin stop all 21 shots he faced for his first WHL playoff win and his first appearance since the sudden passing of his father Derek on March 23.
Following the shut-out win, Desjardins told the News he wasn’t planning on starting the 20-year-old until he asked for the net.
“His dad’s watching, it’s pretty special,” Desjardins said postgame Friday. “He’s had two huge games, it takes a lot. He asked to play, I wasn’t really going to play him, but he asked and I thought we owed it to him. I’m thinking of his mom and his family a lot, it was great to see him have a game like that. It’s a really, really tough situation.”
Meneghin made 15 saves Saturday as Medicine Hat carried momentum, expecting a response and getting more from the Broncos.
“They have lots of good players, lots of character over in that room and they’re well coached, too,” Desjardins said. “This is a really tough series and it is a long, long ways from over.”
After recording a hat trick in Friday’s win, Wiesblatt added another two goals with an assist Saturday. Ryder Ritchie had a pair of goals with a helper and Gavin McKenna, with points in 42 straight games, had a goal and four assists for a five-point night.
He leads the WHL in playoff points with nine, Wiesblatt sits three behind him but leads the league in playoff goals with five. The captain was named the WHL’s player of the week for his efforts.
“That line has been great,” associate coach Joe Frazer said. “They’ve really stepped up production going to the net.”
The series hasn’t lacked physicality, with the Broncos looking to wear down the Tigers, and Medicine Hat not shying away from the rough stuff.
“You have to finish every check because it’s going to add up,” Broncos head coach Taras McEwen said following Game 1. “Not in Game 1, but as you get later in the series, everything matters. Every check, every physical play matters. So we want to stay engaged in between the whistles, after whistles, the entire length of the game. We want to make sure that we’re in their face and just stay on top of their top guys.”
McKenna has liked how they have responded to the physicality of the series.
“We knew they were going to try to run us out of our barn, play physical and get us off our game, so we were prepared,” McKenna said. “We did a good job at staying disciplined. Our special teams have been really good, the (penalty) kill hasn’t let up a goal – knock on wood – and our power play has been buzzing. Special teams can sometimes win playoffs, and they’ve been stepping up.”
The Tigers’ power play is running at 40 per cent, tied for fourth best in the playoffs. They are one of four teams who have been perfect on the penalty kill, alongside the Calgary Hitmen, Vancouver Giants and Portland Winterhawks.
It’s so far a stark contrast of the previous year’s playoffs, where Medicine Hat’s power play ran at five per cent and the penalty kill at 77.3 per cent, en route to a first-round loss to the Red Deer Rebels.
The Tigers will also look to shake things up when it comes to finding success on the road against Swift Current. Over the last five seasons, including this year’s regular season, they are 3-11-1 at the InnovationPlex. One of this victories did come this season though, a 4-3 last-minute win on Dec. 4.
As they look to take a commanding lead in the series, Ritchie says they have to approach it like they did Games 1 and 2.
“We know it’s going to be hard and they’re going to come out hard at home,” Ritchie said. “They’re a great team at home, so we just have to be ready for that. We have to refocus and get refreshed here and be ready for them.”
Whether they return for Game 5 at Co-op Place on Friday, or the next home game is in the second-round, the Tigers have been treated to quite the turnout to start the playoffs. A combined 11,405 fans were in attendance over the weekend, a presence that shook even the more stoic of Tigers.
“It’s been amazing, the city has been showing us and they’ve been rallying for us, and we want to do the same,” McKenna said. “When they come out, they give us that much more energy, it’s been electric, and when we’re stepping on the ice I got chills when seeing the towels buzzing and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is playing. It’s pretty epic and it’s what playoff hockey is all about.”
