NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo celebrates with the rest of the power play after Bryce Pickford scored in the second period of a 7-1 win Wednesday at Co-op Place over the Prince Albert Raiders.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
All gas, no breaks for the Medicine Hat Tigers who kicked December off with a bang.
The Tigers continued the winnings ways they ended November with in a big way, beating up on the East division-leading Prince Albert Raiders 7-1 Wednesday night at Co-op Place to extend their winning streak to five games.
It was the first game for both clubs since the Tigers beat the Raiders 3-2 last Saturday in Prince Albert on a late, flukey goal. It was also just the third regulation loss for the Raiders this season.
The Tigers were expecting the Raiders to come to Co-op Place with a response and a message. They signed return to sender on that delivery.
“We just had a good start and then we got the next one and the next one and pretty soon we had them in a bad spot,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “They wanted to come in and send a message and I thought we responded.”
Defenceman Jonas Woo and Bryce Pickford combined for three goals and seven points, with Pickford tallying two goals and one assist. The pair of 19-year-old blue liners sit tied with 15 goals, leading both the team and all WHL defenceman in goals. Woo leads all WHL defenceman with 32 points, one ahead of Pickford.
The two have traded the team/league D-man lead throughout the year, not that it’s a competition between them.
“We want each other to score as much as possible and we root for each other and it’s just something that happens,” Woo said.
Starter Jordan Switzer finished with 24 saves for his 10th win of the year. He was also in net for the win in Prince Albert, recording back-to-back Ws after going winless in three starts.
“It’s just building confidence, they’re a really good hockey team,” Switzer said. “They’ve lost just three games. So it’s a good confidence builder for our group going into the break.”
Wednesday’s seven-goal effort was the third time the Tigers have tallied seven or more during the recent streak. Beyond the bloated score, the affair was a throwback to a previous era of junior hockey as the two teams combined for 194 penalty minutes as benches depleted and tempers flared amidst the blow-out win.
The third period was slowed down as the two teams engaged in a couple of scrums, stemming from frustration on the Prince Albert side and the Tigers standing up for themselves.
Switzer was slashed and tripped up behind the Tigers’ net before the halfway mark in the third, sparking one scrum that ended seven players’ nights with 10-minute misconducts.
Another scrum came after Woo fell into Raiders’ net minder Dimitri Fortin, sending the goaltender into a fury as the pair shoved one another. Three more 10-minute misconducts came out of that and Fortin, who broke Woo’s stick while the refs sorted out the penalties, was assessed a double minor for roughing and a game misconduct.
Pickford, who fought Raiders’ forward Jonah Sivertson after he tripped up Switzer, liked how the group stood up for one another.
“It’s a brotherhood, if one guy goes down, we’re all going to go down with them,” Pickford said. “So if there’s one guy in the scrum, everybody on the ice is going to be in there. It’s just like brothers is the same mentality, if my brother was to get hit, I’m going in there arms swinging. So I think that’s the brotherhood that we’ve built with this group.”
The Tigers carry the win into a two-game weekend that sees them head to Moose Jaw tonight to face the Warriors before hosting the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday for the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss game.
Pickford says they’re expecting the best from both opponents, a theme he welcomes from other clubs.
“Moose Jaw is a hard team to beat, especially in their own barn, so we have to be ready for them,” Pickford said. “They’re counting down the days for us and we’re going to get their best, we’re getting every team’s best, so we just have to be ready for that. Wenatchee is a good team, they play good on the road, so we just have to be ready for them.
“When we get their best, I want to give them our best and I think that’s the way our teams runs. It’s a pretty cool team environment.”
