NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Medicine Hat Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt celebrates his power play goal in the second period of a 6-4, Game 1 win Saturday at Co-op Place in the second-round series with the Prince Albert Raiders.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers kick off the second round with a win.
The Tigers scored five unanswered goals to win Game 1 of the second-round series with Prince Albert, beating the Raiders 6-4 Saturday night at Co-op Place.
“It was big game for us,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “We came out and we played hard the first two periods, our power play was good. We got some stuff off the power play, the kill was good early. So it’s a pretty good team effort early.”
Prince Albert opened the scoring just over the halfway point of the first.
A Tiger defender had the puck in their zone, looking to make a pass from the half wall behind the net. The puck got caught up in an officials skate, Riley Boychuk scooped it up and fed Evan Smith in front of the net for his first of the playoffs and the 1-0 lead at 10:06.
Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald liked his team’s start and he says they have moments to build off for Game 2.
“There’s some stuff to work on as well too,” McDonald said. “We know they’re a team that thrives on momentum, puck management is extremely crucial against these guys and special teams. We have to make sure that we’re disciplined and not taking unnecessary penalties.”
The Tigers finished 3-3 on the power play, Prince Albert was 1-3.
Medicine Hat tied the game up at 1-1 before the frame came to a close.
Tanner Molendyk carried the puck up ice, passing off to Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll inside the Prince Albert blue line. He skated towards the net before dishing off to younger twin brother Liam all alone in the slot. Liam fired a shot past goalie and player of the year candidate Max Hildebrand to make it a 1-1 game with 3:35 left in the period.
Medicine Hat outshot the Raiders 12-5 in the opening frame with the game tied after 20 minutes.
The Tigers poured it on in the second period, outshooting the Raiders 20-4 while tacking on four goals for the lead.
Medicine Hat kicked things off with a power play goal with exactly 12 minutes left in the period. Molendyk fired a shot on net that the captain, Oasiz Wiesblatt, redirected for his eighth of the playoffs. Bryce Pickford had the second assist, Wiesblatt extended his point streak to 16 games with the goal.
They struck 2:27 later on another power play.
Pickford fired a shot from the point that went wide of the net, ricocheting right to Gavin McKenna at the side of the net and he wasted no time putting it behind Hildebrand. Wiesblatt had the second assist as the Tigers led 3-1 on McKenna’s third of the postseason. The goal extends his CHL-leading point streak to 46 games.
Before the Tigers added on a couple more goals, they had a lineup scare to their deadline acquisition. Molendyk blocked a shot in the Medicine Hat end and did not put weight on one of his legs, skating to the bench and down the tunnel. He did not return for the rest of the second period but was back on the ice halfway through the third period.
The Tigers, down a blue liner, saw another defenceman score.
Mat Ward flew up the ice on a breakaway and when pressured, dropped to a streaking Josh Van Mulligen who got enough on the puck to send it on net and trickling over the line. Hildebrand grabbed it with his glove and the ref waived no goal before a review declared it good. Marcus Pacheco had the second assist on Van Mulligen’s first of the playoffs. The Medicine Hat product saw it cross the goal line and he enjoyed getting the chance to score in front of the 5,863 in attendance.
“It was a big goal and the crowd was really into it there, really loud in the second period,” Van Mulligen said. “It’s nice to contribute on the offensive side there.”
The Tigers ended the period with a third power play goal, coming from familiar face for the Raiders. Ryder Ritchie had the puck at the circle to the left of Hildbrand before unleashing a laser that beat his former teammate for the 5-1 lead after 40 minutes. Ward and Veeti Väisänen had the assists on Ritchie’s fifth goal of the playoffs. Wiesblatt says the flexing of the power play muscle is a good sign but not one they can settle on.
“You want to scare teams with your power play, you want to make them not want to go in the box and we did a good job today in doing that,” Wiesblatt said. “The penalty kill did a good job today and now we just forget about that one and be ready to go tomorrow.”
The Tigers led the game in shots 32-9 after two periods. Hildebrand was lifted after 4o minutes for Dimitri Fortin. McDonald says the move was made looking for a momentum shift while also giving the 20-year-old net minder a period off.
Prince Albert scored first in the final frame, capitalizing on a Tiger penalty. On a power play following an unsportsmanlike penalty on Ward for shooting the puck at an opponent after the whistle, Daxon Rudolph fired a shot from the point that found twine behind Switzer to get the Raiders back in the game 5:15 into the period. Aiden Oiring and Niall Crocker had the assists on his first of the playoffs.
Desjardins says they have to make discipline a focus in Game 2 and the rest of the series, using Ward’s third period penalty as an example.
“That was a bad penalty, we can’t take those penalties if you want to win, we know that and he knows that,” Desjardins said. “But those can’t happen when you get into the playoffs, the playoffs are too close.”
The Raiders struck a little over four minutes later. Dance Derkatch skated into the Tiger end and fired a shot on net that Switzer stopped partially, before it trickled over his glove and into the net to make it a 5-3 game. Oiring and Ethan Bibeau had the assists on Derkatch’s first of the playoffs.
Medicine Hat got back on the scoreboard with a redirection from a former Blade. Misha Volotovskii got the final touch on a blast from Jonas Woo at the point that beat Fortin who took over in net to start the third period. Kadon McCann had the second assist on Volotovskii’s first of the playoffs, making it a 6-3 lead at 15:27.
Prince Albert drew within two 25 seconds later. Brayden Dube flew up the ice, getting in behind a Tiger defender before scoring up and over Switzer to make it a 6-4 game. That was the last goal for the Raiders as the Tigers held on for the 6-4 win, taking the opening game of the series.
Switzer finished his night with 16 saves, recording his first playoff win. Across the ice from him, Hildebrand had 27 saves in his 40 minutes of work and Fortin stopped three shots. The 18-year-old net minder enjoyed his first home start in the playoffs and he says there’s a lot to learn from the opportunity.
“No matter how far a team is behind, there’s always going to be a push and you have to be ready,” Switzer said. ” I could have been a little bit better in the third helping our guys but we came out with the ‘W’, so that’s all that matters.”
The Tigers outshot the Raiders 36-20, Prince Albert won the face-off battle 36-32.
Game 2 goes Sunday evening back at Co-op Place, puck drops at 6 p.m.
Lindstrom back in Medicine Hat
Tigers fans had a positive sight at the end of the game as Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom appeared on the bench to congratulate his teammates after the win. The 2024 fourth overall pick has been with his NHL club rehabbing a back injury that limited him to three games in 2024. Desjardins says there is no update on Lindstrom’s timeline.
“It’s great to see him back, he’s been gone for a long time and the boys are excited to see him, so he’ll be good and we’ll see where he’s at,” Desjardins said.
