Perry Bergson The Brandon Sun
Brandon Wheat Kings goalie Filip Ruzicka extends his blocker as the puck sits behind him in the net as Medicine Hat Tigers forward Andrew Basha and Wheat Kings defenceman Gio Pantelas during Western Hockey League action at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Wednesday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Tigers sure ate their Wheaties Wednesday.
Captain Bryce Pickford recorded his third hat trick of the season, reaching the 40-goal mark, as the Tigers won 6-3 in Brandon over the Wheat Kings.
Wednesday’s victory was the eighth straight for the Tigers who are tied with the Prince Albert Raiders for first in the Eastern conference, the East division leaders hold a game and a win in hand.
Associate coach Joe Frazer liked the Tigers start and their special teams in the win.
“We gave up too many outnumbered rushes where they’re a skilled team, so they capitalized on them, but I liked the resiliency we played the last 40 minutes with,” Frazer said.
“The penalty kill was really good tonight. They killed off the four-minute penalty when it was 3-3, if they got one there that’s a ton of momentum. Then to start the third a five-on-three kill, both massive.”
The Tigers killed off all three Brandon man advantages and capitalized on two of their four power plays. Both power-play markers came off the stick of Pickford, he sits at 41 goals on the season to lead all CHL defencemen.
The Montreal Canadiens prospect has the second most goals in a season by a CHL blue liner since 2000, sitting one back of Marc-André Bergeron, and he has the fourth-most by a CHL defenceman in a single season. He is nine back of the CHL single season defenceman goals record of 50.
Pickford has goals in six straight games, scoring in all but one game since returning from his month-long injury absence.
“He scored some huge goals for us tonight, two on the power play and the one right after another power play, it’s been great to have him back,” Frazer said.
A back-and-forth first period saw Pickford open the scoring with his first power play goal, Liam Ruck and Jonas Woo recording the assists.
After Brandon tied the game on a two-on-one rush, Andrew Basha scored his 13th for a second Tiger lead. Yaroslav Bryzgalov and Luke Cozens had the assists.
The first period ended with Brandon leading 3-2 after the Wheat Kings scored a pair within nine seconds.
But Medicine Hat ran the pace the rest of the way, scoring four unanswered.
Pickford capitalized on an early second-period power play, squeaking a shot through Wheat Kings net minder Filip Ruzicka. Woo and Ruck had the assists again.
Noah Davidson scored the game winner, with Liam and Markus Ruck getting the assists on his 26th.
With 1:55 left in the middle frame and a power play freshly expired, Pickford hammered home the hat trick with a one-timer. Woo and Bryzgalov picked up the helpers.
The Tigers’ last tally came on the empty net as Markus Ruck, after missing on a pair of chances minutes before, scored his 18th to ice the win.
Woo and Liam Ruck both finished with three-assist nights, Markus Ruck had a goal and an assist and Bryzgalov had two helpers. Liam’s three-point night has him first in the WHL in points with 93, Markus one point back of his younger twin brother.
Jordan Switzer stopped 26 shots for his league-leading 27th win.
The Tigers return from the mid-week road trip with a pair of wins, beating the Regina Pats 11-2 on Tuesday. Frazer liked how they started the four-game week.
“It’s always tough to come on the road, but we found different ways to win and it was a great team effort both nights,” Frazer said.
The Tigers host the Red Deer Rebels on Friday before heading to Edmonton on Saturday to face a rested Oil Kings squad. Frazer expects a difficult weekend ahead against the Central division foes. With seven games left on the slate, he’s looking for them to keep rising.
“We’ve had different guys stepping up every night. I still think we have to keep getting better,” Frazer said. “There’s playoffs right around the corner. We got to start making sure we’re playing playoff hockey.
