NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll scores on a penalty shot against Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Grayson Malinoski in the second period of WHL action Friday at Co-op Place. The Tigers scored eight unanswered after a rough first period, en route to their 16th win in a row.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Tigers rope-a-doped the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday night.
Seattle scored three goals in the first period period before the Tigers took over, rattling off eight unanswered to beat the Thunderbirds 8-3 at Co-op Place for a 16th straight win. Captain Bryce Pickford scored his second hat trick of the season, adding a pair of assists for his first career five-point night.
Pickford’s 31 goals has him one back of the franchise single season defenceman goal scoring record of 32 set by Kris Russell in the 2006-07 season. The Montreal Canadiens prospect was pleased with the win, coming against his former team.
“It feels good, I think they won that for me and it meant a lot,” Pickford said. “That was a good test for a team. They’re a good team over there. They had a good start, but we just battled back.”
It was the Tigers first game since the WHL trade deadline on Thursday, trading away 20-year-old forward Misha Volotovskii to the Vancouver Giants after acquiring forward Luke Cozens from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday.
Head coach Willie Desjardins liked Cozens game and he liked his team’s response from an early deficit.
“Seattle had a good start, our power play was great and so is our penalty kill, we we had the kill at the end of the second where that game was right there on the line,” Desjardins said. “(Cam) Parr makes a great play to start the third, just got us going right there. Then our then our power play just took over.”
The Tigers finished 5-6 on the power play, including a penalty shot goal from Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll in the second period. They held Seattle scoreless on three man advantages. Medicine Hat outshot the Thunderbirds 37-21.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the first three minutes.
Vanek Popil opened the scoring with a shot from the point that beat starter Carter Casey 2:43 into the game.
Just 24 seconds later, Cameron Schmidt hammered a one-timer past Casey to make it a 2-0 lead at 3:07. Schmidt’s goal extends his league-leading point streak to 22 games.
Tigers defenceman Veeti Väisänen left the game early in the first period after taking a hit up high along the boards in the Seattle end. He was helped off the ice and did not return. Desjardins had no update on his status post game.
The Thunderbirds scored a third time in the first period with Joe Gramer scoring on a shot from the slot for the 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Medicine Hat made a goaltending change to start the second with Jordan Switzer taking over for Casey who finished with three saves. Switzer stopped all 15 shots he faced for his league-leading 18th win on the year.
The Tigers responded with a three-goal period of their own, tying the game up at 3-3 through 40 minutes.
Before they got on the board, Medicine Hat had a goal called back due to a high stick. A pinball-like bouncing puck was touched with a high stick before it reached the back of the net, called a good goal on the ice before it was overturned.
The Tigers captain found twine with a shot that couldn’t be questioned.
Bryce Pickford blasted home a one-timer on a power play to get on the board 11:40 into the first. Markus Ruck and Andrew Basha had the assists. The goal extends Pickford’s point streak to 14 games.
Gordon-Carroll was tripped up on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. He scored on Seattle starter Grayson Malinoski to make it a 3-2 game at 12:24. Gordon-Carroll’s goal was his ninth on the year.
The Tigers tied the game up 1:47 later with another power play goal from the captain.
Pickford, sitting on the back door, took a cross-crease pass from Jonas Woo and scored his league-leading 30th of the season. Markus Ruck had the second assist.
The Tigers grabbed a lead 26 seconds into the third. Kadon McCann knocked home a loose puck in the Seattle crease for his 14th of the season. Cam Parr, who set up the play by carrying the puck through the neutral zone, had an assist. Jonas Woo had the secondary helper.
They struck again on a power play for the third time on the night.
Markus Ruck had the puck in the corner and he fed younger-twin brother Liam in the slot for a point blank shot and goal, his 21st of the season. Basha had the second assist as the Tigers lead 5-3 3:07 into the third.
The Tigers kept the momentum rolling in the frame. Kade Stengrim cleaned up a rebound, scoring his eighth of the season for the 6-3 lead at 4:26. Pickford and Noah Davidson had the assists.
The Thunderbirds made a goaltending change with Malinoski pulled after allowing six goals on 20 shots. Marek Sklenicka took over and stopped 15 of 17 shots.
Pickford secured the hat trick with another power play goal. He fired a shot from the high slot that found the back of the net to send the hats flying from the 3,668 in attendance. Liam Ruck and Basha had the assists.
Before the Tigers final goal, tensions boiled over after a hit from Yaroslav Bryzgalov sparked a scrum in the Seattle end. The two teams finished with a combined 110 penalty minutes.
The final goal came at four-on-four when Markus Ruck tapped in a rebound to make it the 8-3 final. Liam Ruck and Pickford had the assists. Markus was proud of the group’s ability to battle back in the win.
“It’s unbelievable the brotherhood in there,” Ruck said. “Everyone is cheering for each other, everyone wants our teammates to succeed. It’s so special. It’s, it’s fun to be a part of and I think that’s contributing to a lot of our success lately.”
Markus had a goal and three assists, Basha had three assists and Liam finished with a goal and two assists.
The Tigers (26-6-3-2) carry the 16-game win streak into Saturday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. They are one win away from tying the franchise win streak record of 17 wins set in 2006-07. Markus says they can’t focus on the streak as they look to tally another win.
“The worst thing we can do is think about that, we just have to take it game by game,” Ruck said. “Tomorrow’s is going to be another tough game, :ethrbidge always play hard here, so we have to be ready and play our game again.”
