NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin makes a stop on the first shooter he faced ahead of an eight-round, 3-2 shootout win for the Tigers on Saturday at Co-op Place over the Calgary Hitmen.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers gave themselves a narrow gap atop the East with a weekend sweep.
The Tigers beat the Calgary Hitmen in a pair of games over the weekend, blanking the Central division rival 3-0 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday before coming back to outlast the Hitmen in a 3-2, eight-round shootout win on Saturday at Co-op Place.
It’s a weekend head coach Willie Desjardins says helps them as they look to stay on top in the second half.
“There’s lots of good teams on this side, it’s going to be a real battle,” Desjardins said. “We dug a hole for ourselves, we got behind a little bit and we’ve played more games, so we need these wins.
“It’s big, we played them back-to-back weekends and got three out of four both weekends, that was huge for us.”
The Tigers lost 4-3 in overtime at Calgary on Dec. 29 and topped the Hitmen 5-2 the next night at Co-op Place. With this weekend’s wins the Tigers (27-15-2) sit one point ahead of the Hitmen who beat the Regina Pats 4-1 on Sunday.
Medicine Hat’s star over the weekend was goaltender Harrison Meneghin who picked up a pair of wins, making 20 saves in Friday’s shutout before turning aside 14 shots on Saturday-also making four stops in the shootout.
The 20-year-old net minder was named the WHL’s goaltender of the week with a .96 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage on the weekend. Meneghin spoke with the News after the win Saturday, sporting some stitches on his wrist after getting stepped on during a dog pile late in the third.
Facing a combined 26 shots on both nights provided a challenge Meneghin says but one he’s becoming accustomed to as the Tigers’ continue to limit opponents shot totals.
“It’s obviously nice when you don’t have to face too much rubber but I like playing the sport, so I like some shots,” Meneghin said. “It’s a little bit easier when you get some and can make routine saves, I don’t get a lot of those shot. But that’s just the way we are, we’re a good team, we’re not going to give up a lot of shots. So, just play the game that’s given to you.”
Ryder Ritchie scored twice in Saturday’s win, bringing his season goal total up to 15 on the year. His two goals brought the Tigers back from a 2-0 deficit, tying the game up with five minutes left in the final frame. The Minnesota Wild prospect spoke highly of the Tigers’ buy-in and their ability to band together for the win and weekend sweep.
“(Calgary) has built for a run as well, but we stuck together,” Ritchie said. “We went to Calgary (Friday) and got a big win…We took that game and then tonight, that comeback, we had so much belief in our dressing room. That was the biggest thing. We’re down going into the third 1-0 and then they scored and we stuck with it, and we stuck together and we pulled it out.”
The Tigers saw the return of Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll to the lineup after missing over a month with a lower-body injury. His presence was necessitated with Mat Ward falling to injury late in Friday’s game. As the clock dwindled down in the shut-out win, Ward held the puck along the boards behind the Tiger net. Hitmen forward Carson Wetsch checked Ward a few seconds after he passed the puck away, leaving the Tiger forward in an awkward stance following the hit.
Desjardins had no update on the 20-year-old forward’s status beyond day-to-day. The Tigers host the Pats (12-24-4-2) tonight at Co-op Place for the final home game before they embark on a six-game, nine-day U.S. road trip. Tonight also marks the return of defenceman Matt Paranych who played 76 games in the orange and black before being traded on Dec. 13.
