NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck skates past the Lethbridge net after scoring in overtime in a 6-5, comeback win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
A Saturday night of flip-flopping scripts saw the Medicine Hat Tigers get the final line.
The Tigers overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to come back and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-5 in overtime at Co-op Place. With the win the Tigers sweep the season series with the Hurricanes 8-0.
Liam Ruck scored on a rebound 1:56 into overtime for the Tigers’ 48th win of the season. Head coach Willie Desjardins credited the Hurricanes effort and he liked his team’s response in the comeback.
“They played well the first period, (we) made a couple mistakes, they get a power play goal and all of a sudden it’s 3-1 and after that we were behind,” Desjardins said. “We got to 3-2 and then we give up another one. I thought the boys battled hard though, that’s a tough game.
“Lots of good things about Lethbridge, they played us hard all year and the last time they were in our building it was overtime and it was overtime again today. So a lot of credit to their team as well.”
Markus Ruck finished with a goal and two assists, becoming the first in the CHL to cross the 100-point plateau.
“I’ve got a lot of great teammates around me, it’s so much fun playing with these guys and the credit all goes to them, I love this team,” Markus said.
Kade Stengrim recorded his first career WHL hat trick in the win, giving him a five-goal weekend after he potted a pair in the Tigers’ 6-3 win Friday in Lethbridge.
“It was good, when you’re on the ice with Shaeffer (Gordon-Carroll), for even the last one, that pass from Josh Van Mulligan was awesome,” Stengrim said. “So just keeping my stick on the ice and go to the net.”
Lethbridge opened the scoring in the first off one of a number of outnumbered rushes.
Tomas Malinek scored on a backhand move, deking out Switzer to make it a 1-0 lead 6:09 into the game.
The Tigers responded a little over two minutes later, with Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll beating out a dump-in before sending a pass to the slot for Stengrim’s first. Carter Cunningham had the second assist.
The Hurricanes answered back with a pair of goals, carrying momentum and a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
On a two-on-one, Oli Chenier finished off a cross-ice pass from Hudson Kibblewhite to give Lethbridge a lead with 5:17 left in the period. Just 2:21 later, on a power play, Kayden Longley scored with a backhand shot that snuck through Switzer for the 3-1 score.
Stengrim opened the scoring in the second, knocking in a rebound from a Gordon-Carroll shot that hit Lethbridge starter Leif Oaten’s mask and settled into the slot for the taking. Cunningham had the second assist on the marker.
The Hurricanes regained the two-goal lead with his first of the night, scoring on a cross-crease pass from Longley.
Trailing 4-2 after 40 minutes, the Tigers opened the scoring in the third with Liam Ruck’s first of the night. Markus Ruck set him up with a cross-ice pass for his 81st assist and his 100th point. Niilopekka Muhonen tallied the second helper.
Anderson scored his second of the night, re-establishing the Hurricanes’ two-goal lead with 11:31 left in the third. The Tigers then tallied a pair of goals to tie the game up and force overtime.
Markus Ruck deflected a point shot from Veeti Väisänen to make it a 5-4 game 1:25 later, Josh Van Mulligen had the second assist.
With 4:30 left in the game, Van Mulligen passed through defenders to the slot for a streaking Stengrim to record his hat trick and tie the game 5-5.
The Tigers pushed for their first lead of the night late in the third but couldn’t score before the game went to overtime. After a pair of chances to start overtime, the Tigers pushed up ice. Markus Ruck sprung Bryce Pickford, coming off the bench, for a rush. He skated in on net, stopped on his first move before getting a backhand shot on the net.
The puck laid in the slot for Liam who knocked it in for his second of the night and 43rd of the season. Markus had the second assist on the game winner.
Medicine Hat outshot the Hurricanes 44-17, starter Jordan Switzer finished with 12 saves for his 29th win. Switzer made 31 saves in Friday’s win. Across the ice Saturday, Oaten finished with 38 saves. Medicine Hat was held scoreless on three power plays, Lethbridge scored on their lone man advantage.
“I thought I could have gave us a few more saves,” Switzer said. “It’s tough going back to back, but at least we got the win.”
The Tigers were without forward Noah Davidson on Saturday, suspended one game for a goaltender interference major and game misconduct Friday. Missing the centreman, the Tigers started the game with Jonas Woo playing between the Ruck twins. Desjardins says they’ve wanted to try him in the position for awhile.
” You don’t know where he might have to play when he goes pro, you might need to play up front, so it was a good chance to see him in that spot and who knows, maybe we need him down the road,” Desjardins said.
Woo, held pointless Saturday, had a goal and an assist Friday as he set a new single-season franchise record for points by a defenceman, passing Cliff Lane’s tally of 82 from 1975-76.
The Tigers (48-10-5-3) are off until Friday when they head to Red Deer to face the Rebels.
