PHOTO COURTESY KEITH HERSMILLER PHOTOGRAPHY/REGINA PATS
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin Kor admires his work after scoring on Regina Pats goaltender Taylor Tabashniuk in the second period of a 4-2, Game 4 win Wednesday at Regina’s Brandt Centre.
Medicine Hat News
The Medicine Hat Tigers worked in a series of fours Wednesday night to grab a commanding lead in their first-round series.
The Tigers scored four straight goals from four different goal scorers to take Game 4 in Regina 4-2 and grab a 3-1 lead over the Pats. After splitting the first two games of the series, the Tigers took Game 3 8-2 Tuesday and return to Co-op Place for Game 5 on Saturday just one win away from the second round.
Head coach Willie Desjardins credited their penalty kill for the win and efforts from around the lineup.
“The penalty kill was great, tthat’s made a big difference for us and goaltending played good both games,” Desjardins said. “The last two games we got good goaltending, which has really helped, it probably was a difference.
“We’ve got some scoring from different lines, like Davidson and Gordon-Carroll’s line have been scoring which is good for us. We had to go in after losing one at home, we had to go in and get one, so the boys did a great job getting a couple wins.”
Carter Casey started in net for the Tigers, making his first appearance of the playoffs, finishing with 28 saves for the win. Jordan Switzer started the first three games of the series, picking up wins in Game 1 and 3. Desjardins says they planned for Casey to start Game 4, wanting to utilize their two goaltenders.
“I don’t think there’s anything to it, we have two goaltenders, Casey played really good down the stretch and I planned on going with him the second night before we left Medicine Hat,” Desjardins said. “It wasn’t depending on Game 3, I’d already decided to play Game 4. We have two good goalies, might as well use them.”
Regina opened the scoring, Zach Lansard getting in behind the Tigers defence and finding the back of the net for the 1-0 lead 8:02 into the first.
The Tigers responded with a pair in the period, the first coming from Kade Stengrim who scored off a cross-ice pass from Jonas Woo on a rush for his second of the series. With 1:10 left in the period, Gavin Kor got in behind the Regina defence and Ethan Neutens interrupted an exit attempt, setting Kor up for a backhand goal for his first WHL Playoffs mark.
Medicine Hat rattled off a pair of goals in the second period for a 4-1 lead. Liam Ruck finished off a pass from Andrew Basha who skated up ice and dished to the younger Ruck twin at the net front for his first of the series. A little under two minutes later, Basha fired a pass up ice from his own end to Noah Davidson waiting on the Regina blue line. He skated in and scored his second of the series for the Tigers’ lone power play goal on the night. They finished 1-5 on the man advantage, Regina was 0-3.
The Pats responded in the frame, Ruslan Karimov flying up ice before being pushed to the outside in the Tigers end. He circled around the net and scored on a wraparound for his third of the series, making it a 4-2 game after 20 minutes.
Regina pushed in the third, looking to get within one. A four-minute power play for the Tigers ate into the Pats time and Medicine Hat held off the Pats push, securing the 4-2 win and the commanding series lead. Desjardins liked how they handled the Regina push.
“We did a good job, I don’t think they had a lot, I they we were pretty good,” Desjardins said. “We gave up one or two outnumbered chances late but I thought overall, the guys did a good job.”
Regina turned to Taylor Tabashniuk in net for Game 4, he came in relief for Marek Schlenker on Tuesday, the Pats starter finished with 26 saves Wednesday.
Both teams fired 30 shots, Medicine Hat edged out the face-off battle 33-29.
