NEWS PHOTO James Tubb
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Cayden Lindstrom stands in front of Spokane Chiefs net minder Dawson Cowan during a power play in the first period of a 6-2 Game 2 loss Sunday at Co-op Place in the WHL Championship Series.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Hold the banana, we’ve got a split in the WHL Championship series.
The Medicine Hat Tigers drew first blood in the WHL Finals with a 4-1 win Friday, and after a day off Saturday, it was the Spokane Chiefs who took control. The Western Conference champions scored four unanswered goals in the first period Sunday to propel them 6-2 over Medicine Hat to even the series up at 1-1 heading back to Spokane.
“Obviously we didn’t want to give up that first goal that quick, but I thought our kids, it didn’t phase them,” Chiefs’ head coach Brad Lauer said. “We stuck with it and found a way. We got a really good first period, were able to score four, so it was a good response. It was a good start, it was what we wanted.”
The Tigers scored the first goal in both games over the weekend at Co-op Place, Andrew Basha scored 54 seconds into Game 1, his first game since Dec. 28, 2024.
In Game 2, Cayden Lindstrom signalled his full return to action with a goal 55 seconds into the game, his first since March 30, 2024. He had an assist on Basha’s goal Friday, Lindstrom’s first game since returning from injury.
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospect wasn’t too willing to celebrate his goal coming in the Game 2 loss.
“Scoring goals is fun and all, but I think winning is better,” Lindstrom said. “You can score as many goals as you want, but if you don’t win the game, it’s not the best.”
Medicine Hat found success defensively in Game 1 taking away the middle of the ice, limiting the Chiefs’ one-time and slot chances. It’s something Lauer said they would focus on in preparation for Game 2. The Chiefs’ research and response was expected, head coach Willie Desjardins says, an effort his team didn’t match.
“They have a really good hockey team, I don’t think we handled it great, I don’t think that was our best game, but you only play as well as the other team lets you play as well,” Desjardins said. “So they just outplayed us, they were quicker, all the 50-50 pucks went their way. So we have to take a look at a few things. It was not quite the way we wanted to respond, I thought we played pretty good in the second, we had a chance in the second, Hunter (St. Martin) hit the goal post. It would have put it 4-3, maybe that would have made a difference. But they deserved it.”
Bryce Pickford scored in the second period, finding the back of the net on a power play for his ninth of the playoffs. Gavin McKenna was held scoreless for the first time since Nov. 2, 2024, snapping his 54-game point streak. In that span he had 40 goals and 137 points.
The Tigers were outshot in both games, 37-22 and 25-21. Harrison Meneghin started both games, picking up the win Friday. He earned WHL goalie of the week honours with a 3.50 goals against average and an .887 save percentage. The loss Sunday was his first in the playoffs, also the first time the Tigers have lost on home ice these playoffs.
They hit the road Monday, led out of town by a parade of fans up and down streets in Medicine Hat ahead of Game 3 tonight in Spokane. Desjardins says they didn’t play their game Sunday, snapping an 11-game win streak, giving them a chance to hit the reset for Game 3.
“We weren’t quick enough and if you’re not first to the puck, then it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it’s not going to work,” Desjardins said. “So our group didn’t have a great game tonight, but it’s one game, that’s just what it is. In playoffs, as soon as it’s over, it’s gone and you’re just looking for the next one.”
Co-op Place saw a total of 12,482 fans across the first two games of the WHL finals, with Friday leading the way with 6,244. Included in those fan totals was a suite of Tigers alumni from the 2000s, with members of both the 2004 and 2007 championship teams in the building to cheer on the Tigers and their former bench boss. Desjardins was happy to see the former Tigers in the building.
“It’s pretty special group, it’s always hard to win, so it’s a really, really special group,” Desjardins said. “But this is a good group, too. I like our group, we’ve had lots of challenges before and we’ll see if we can come back. But I like our group, I like our character. It’s a fun group to coach.”
Games 3, 4 and 5 will all be in Spokane’s Memorial Arena. If needed, Game 6 of the series would be back at Co-op Place on Sunday, and Game 7 would be May 19.
Puck drop for tonight’s Game 3 is 8 p.m. MST and available to watch in Canada on TSN and on Victory+ in the United States.
