NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna and defenceman Jack Kachkowski look to corral a puck along the blue line in the second period of an 8-4 win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers were able to snap out a slump with the shortest lineup of the season.
After falling 4-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday, the Tigers bounced back with an 8-4 drubbing of the 2024 WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday.
Both games at Co-op Place featured a shorthanded Medicine Hat lineup that wouldn’t be eligible to play with in the NHL video games.
The Tigers were limited to 17 skaters on Friday, losing forward Andrew Basha late in the second period and all of Saturday’s game.
Against Moose Jaw the Tigers had just 10 forwards and 16 skaters, able to snap a three-game losing streak with the win. Forward Hunter St. Martin, who had a hat trick in the win Saturday, says they banded together for the win.
“We’ve been here before, last year we were down guys and we know that we just have to come together,” St. Martin said. “We have to play, you have no choice but to get pucks deep and play the right way.”
Head coach Willie Desjardins had no firm update post game, but he said the Calgary Flames prospect will have to get checked out and is considered day to day. As for their bounce-back effort with a short lineup, he described the win as a special effort from his group.
“I don’t know if people know how short we are and how hard it’s been for guys, they have been playing a lot,” Desjardins said. “Gavin McKenna put in close to 30 minutes Friday night against Edmonton, and for him to come back and have a game like that, it’s huge. All the guys did, it’s been a tough go because we haven’t been able to practice, because guys are so tired from games and that’s been like that for awhile. So it’s been a little bit of a challenge for us.”
McKenna recorded four assists Saturday, surpassing WHL milestones of 100 assists and 150 career points. He sits one goal away from No. 50 on his WHL career.
“I’ve gotten to play with some pretty high-end players here in my career, so lots of credit to those guys,” McKenna said. “It’s a great organization here in Med Hat. So to play with some of these guys and get those points, I have to give lots of credit to them.”
McKenna remains first in WHL scoring with 11 goals and 37 points in 19 games. He’s tallied four goals and 14 points in his last five games, a stretch that includes a 3-0 goose-egg loss at Brandon to the Wheat Kings.
With the injuries up front to Ryder Ritchie, Hayden Harsanyi, and Markus and Liam Ruck at the U17 Hockey Challenge, the Tigers have had to rely on their top line of St. Martin, McKenna and Oasiz Wiesblatt, who scored twice Saturday and added an assist. They’ve also called upon rookies like Carter Cunningham and Brayden Ryan-MacKay. It’s the latter of the two who had his own milestone Saturday, recording his first WHL goal.
The 16-year-old scored the eventual game winner with 1:34 left in the second period, part of a run of five straight Tigers’ goals. He was mobbed by his teammates on the ice, partly dislodging his cage after the celebration.
“It was unreal, the puck just landed on my stick and just all the boys were so ecstatic for me,” Ryan-MacKay said.
Saturday’s win showed a buy-in when it comes to discipline for the Tigers. After a pair of losses where they had seven trips to the sin bin, Medicine Hat was shorthanded just twice Saturday, with St. Martin recording his third shorthanded goal on the year.
“The last two games with seven penalties each, that just can’t happen,” St. Martin said. “People get tired, the penalty kill gets tired, that’s just that’s how it goes. So to be out of the box and be able to play more of a flow game without the stop of momentum and getting tired, that’s huge for our group.”
Marcus Pacheco and Bryce Pickford each scored Saturday for their second and seventh goals of the season respectively. Pickford sits tied for first in defenceman goals entering play Monday. Defencemen Jonas Woo and Niilopekka Muhonen each had a pair of assists.
The Tigers have some reinforcements on the way, with the Rucks returning after winning gold at the U17’s with Canada White. They beat Canada Red 3-1 in the finals on Saturday. Markus finished his tournament with two goals and two assists, Liam had four helpers, assisting on both of his older twin brothers goals.
They’ll also soon see a return of Ritchie and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen from upper-body injuries. Desjardins told the News on Nov. 7 the pair had a return timeline of roughly 10 days.
The Tigers have two games this week, heading to Edmonton on Wednesday for a rematch with the Oil Kings before they host the Victoria Royals on Friday for the return of Brayden Boehm to Co-op Place.
