By Mitch Bach

Bradley, Fischer send hats flying as Tigers rout Oil Kings

Mar 10, 2017 | 8:59 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Finding the twine came easy for the Medicine Hat Tigers in this one.

Matt Bradley and Zach Fischer collected coinciding hat-tricks as the Tigers blew out the Edmonton Oil Kings 9-3 in the first game of a home-and-home series on Friday night.

Fischer got the scoring soiree started 8:13 into the first period. Edmonton was quick to tie it back up with Colton Kehler notching his 16th of the season just 1:21 later. But that was as close as the Oil Kings would get to gaining any sort of traction.

Two tallies from 20-year-old Bradley late in the opening frame kicked off an offensive overhaul for the home team.

Medicine Hat exploded in the second period, scoring five goals and outshooting Edmonton 20-5.

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Zach Fischer connected with his second of the night just 3:49 into the middle frame. 47 seconds later, Bradley sent dozens of hats showering down onto the Canalta Centre ice with his third goal of the game giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead. 

David Quenneville, Tyler Preziuso and Chad Butcher rounded out the scoring in a dominating second period for Medicine Hat.

Fischer’s third of the night, also his 33rd of the season, came just 1:36 into the third period. The 19-year-old Lloydminster product now has two hat-tricks this season; his other one coming in the Tigers home opener against Lethbridge.

Nick Schneider returned to the blue paint for the first time since January 24th, turning away 18 shots for his 32nd win of the season. Edmonton’s Josh Dechaine and Patrick Dea split time in the crease. Dechaine gave up seven goals on 30 shots, while his reliever faced 21 shots.

Edmonton’s Brayden Gorda rand Kobe Mohr scored the remaining goals for the Oil Kings in the third period.

A scary scene for the Tigers with less than two minutes to play. Rookie Ryan Chyzowski was rocked by Gorda near the Oil Kings left face-off circle. After several minutes of wincing on the ice, he was helped off by Tigers trainers and went immediately into the dressing room. Gorda received a five minute major penalty on the play.

Medicine Hat’s two points for the victory, combined with the Lethbridge Hurricanes loss in Calgary, move the Tigers four points up on their highway three rivals for the Central Division lead.

Edmonton welcomes Medicine Hat to Rogers Place on Saturday night for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. As always, Bob Ridley will take the mic for full play-by-play on CHAT 94.5 FM.