By Mitch Bach

Latest acquisitions help Tigers topple Blades 3-2

Jan 10, 2018 | 8:07 PM

SASKATOON, SK — It didn’t take Bryan Lockner and Elijah Brown very long to lend a helping hand.

Hours after meeting their new teammates, the two 2000-born forwards both found the scoresheet, helping the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday at the SaskTel Centre. This is a victory which saw the Tigers throw 46 shots on goal, capping off a season series sweep over the Blades with four consecutive wins.

Lockner, acquired earlier in the day as part of a three-way deal involving the Regina Pats, netted the 23-16-3-0 Tabbies second goal of the night, pushing their lead to 2-0 in the first period. The 17-year-old has scored in four consecutive games, including his final three matches as a member of the Pats. He took home second star honours for his performance in orange and black.

Blades strike late, but run out of gas against a defensively strong @tigershockey team tonight.

3-2 is the final, Tigers sweep season series 4-0.#whl

— Mitch Bach (@CHATTVMitchBach) January 11, 2018

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Lockner will square off against his former team Friday, when the Tigers pay a visit to Regina.

The game’s first tally came off the stick of Gary Haden less than two minutes into the game. Brown, who hadn’t played since late October after being placed on the Seattle Thunderbirds suspended list, notched the primary helper on the goal, with Jaeger White chipping in with the second assist.

Brown, a former first round bantam draft pick, was sent the Tigers way from Seattle in exchange for a 2nd round pick in 2018, and a conditional 3rd rounder in 2019. 

As impressive of a Tigers debut it was for the two newest members of the team, David Quenneville stood out above the rest.

The 19-year-old defenceman was awarded the game’s first star after scoring the Tigers third goal of the game, complete with 10 shots on the night and an assist on Lockner’s tally. Prior to puck-drop, Quenneville and former teammate and best friend Max Gerlach caught up with one another at centre-ice. Gerlach, also 19, was sent the Blades way earlier in the day ahead of the WHL trade deadline as part of the deal to acquire Lockner.

Gerlach finished the night with one assist and four shots on the night.

Braylon Shmyr scored Saskatoon’s first goal of the game, coming late in the first period to cut the Tigers lead to 2-1. Quenneville’s tally came as the midway mark of the third period approached, clapping a one-timer from the point past the game’s second star Nolan Maier.

With 15 seconds remaining, Chase Wouters drew the Blades back within one on a goal assisted by Gerlach. 

But the home-team ran out of time, dropping just their third game in their last 11.

Jordan Hollett made 31 saves on the night, while Maier was busy throughout the contest stopping 43 in total.

Medicine Hat’s toughest stretch of games throughout the year is their next challenge. They’ll begin a stretch of three games in three nights on Friday, battling the Regina Pats before heading to Brandon on Saturday, and finishing off a four-game East Division road swing in Moose Jaw on Sunday.