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By Scott Roblin

Captain Clutch

Hamblin scores shootout winner, Tigers down ‘Canes in comeback fashion

Oct 26, 2019 | 10:54 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – If leaders step up in the biggest moments, James Hamblin was that leader for the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday night.

Medicine Hat’s captain scored once in regulation and added the shootout winner at the Enmax Centre in a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Down by a goal in the third period, the Tigers got a timely goal from Elijah Brown to secure a point and rookie Garin Bjorklund was able to keep the Hurricanes at bay in overtime and the shootout.

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to get their first big chance of the night with Lethbridge’s D-Jay Jerome taking a tripping penalty just eight seconds into the game.

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Hamblin found the back of the net just 28 seconds into the man advantage to put Medicine Hat ahead 1-0 early.

Lethbridge answered back with their own power play goal later in the first however, with Oliver Okuliar beating Bjorklund for his eighth of the season to send it to the break tied at 1-1.

Buffalo top prospect Dylan Cozens was able to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the night with 5:40 remaining in the second period, showcasing the hands that made him a first round pick of the Sabres in June.

Through 40 minutes the Tigers heavily outshot the Hurricanes 33-22, however Lethbridge goaltender Carl Tetachuk kept the home side in the lead with 32 saves to that point.

With 6:40 left in regulation, Medicine Hat capitalized with Hurricanes top blueliner Calen Addison in the penalty box with another power play goal from Brown to send the game to overtime.

After a scoreless fourth period that saw Bjorklund and Tetachuk stop a pair of shots each, a shootout was required.

Following a Cozens miss, Hamblin was able to give Medicine Hat the advantage in the first round with a goal.

Bjorklund was able to shut down both Logan Barlage and Dino Kambeitz, helping to end a two-game slide for the Tigers in the process.

Brett Kemp was able to extend his point streak to seven games with a pair of assists, while Ryan Chyzowski and Cole Sillinger each had a helper and ran their point streaks to nine and six games, respectively.

Tetachuk was named the game’s first star in the loss for Lethbridge, allowing just two goals on 41 shots against.

Earning their first victory of their nine-game road trip, the 9-4-1-0 Tigers sit only one point behind Lethbridge for second place in the Central Division with 19 points.

Medicine Hat will head east for their annual British Columbia road trip next week, kicking off five games in eight days on November 2 in Victoria against the Royals.