NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo sends a pass along the blue line in the first period of a 7-4 win Jan. 10 at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The banged-up Medicine Hat Tigers will get the chance to battle with their longest rival.
On a rare one-game weekend the Central division leaders host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday, the fourth meeting between the Highway 3 rival. The Tigers have won the first three meetings, the latest a 7-4 win Jan. 10 at Co-op Place.
Lethbridge has a game before the two teams meet, hosting the Calgary Hitmen tonight. The Hurricanes enter play Friday with a two-game win streak after beating the Saskatoon Blades 5-2 on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes snapped an eight-game losing streak on Jan. 23 with a 6-2 win over the Regina Pats. Wednesday’s win brings a boost to Lethbridge, head coach Matt Anholt told the Lethbridge Herald.
“We’re real proud of the group, obviously,” Anholt said. “There’s lots of games in that losing streak that we felt like we were in, or could have maybe won, or were right there to win. So nice to get on a little bit of a … winning streak right now. Boys are real happy, just proud of the group. Lots of real good performances tonight by a lot of different guys.”
Lethbridge trailed 2-0 halfway through the second period Wednesday before rattling off a pair of goals in the middle frame to tie it up after 40 minutes. Hudson Kibblewhite scored 19 seconds into the third period for the game winner, and South Alberta Hockey Academy alum Kade Duell scored in the third and former Tiger Kyle Heger scored an empty netter to ice the win.
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer watched the game from Medicine Hat, crediting the Hurricanes play in the win.
“They played pretty good,” Frazer said. “Watching the game, the Hurricanes worked hard, that’s a good, fast Saskatoon team. They worked and Lethbridge was really good. So we know it’s our rival and it’s going to be a big game Saturday.
The Tigers, coming off a 4-1 win Tuesday over Saskatoon, had Wednesday for off-ice work to refresh and workout before getting back to the ice on Thursday and today. It’s an easy game to get up for, Frazer says.
“Anytime you’re playing Lethbridge, you get up for those games, Saturday night against a rival,” Frazer said. “We’ve had two really, good days of practice, so I know the guys are excited.”
The Tigers enter the weekend with forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, tabbed week to week. Defencemen Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo are both listed as day to day. Woo left Tuesday’s game after 20 minutes, with a couple of plays contributing to his early exit.
Frazer says they’d know more today about his status for the weekend with both doubtful for the contest Saturday.
Their defence stepped up in the win over Saskatoon, playing with five for a majority and down to four after Veeti Väisänen was hit in the neck with a puck. Frazer was proud of the group covering for one another.
“We love our D-corps, (Riley) Steen and (Tyson) Moss have giving us great games all year, their development all season, they’ve gotten better and better,” Frazer said. “When you look at (Josh) Van Mulligan, Niilopekka (Muhonen) and Veeti, they were all huge parts of why we won a championship last year. So one guy goes down, a lot of guys will step up.”
With files from the Lethbridge Herald
