Tigers late comeback falls one goal short, remain winless against Brandon

Trailing by three goals with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Tigers went into overdrive and pulled within one before Patera made his biggest save of the evening.

“We had a good push there at the end,” said defenceman Daniel Baker. “I think it shows a lot that we never quit. So, I think we just got to carry that onto the next game.”

Duncan Pierce got the visitors off to a strong start 6:39 into the first period, fighting off Medicine Hat’s Cyle McNabb and sniping top shelf on Mads Søgaard for the game’s first goal.

Despite outshooting the Wheat Kings 13-7 over the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers were kept off the scoreboard with most of their shots coming from the perimeter.

Medicine Hat was finally able to get back on track 5:13 into the second frame, as Bryan Lockner beat the buzzer on a power play opportunity with a snipe from the right circle.

Minutes later, Tigers captain James Hamblin was caught with a hit cross-ice that left him slow to his feet with no call on the play.

Brandon was able to take advantage with only four Tigers back in the defensive zone, as a passing play was finished off by Ben McCartney for his 20th goal of the season and the lead.

Penalty troubles continued to plague Medicine Hat late in the period with Dru Krebs getting the gate for interference, his team’s fifth infraction of the second frame alone.

With just 39 seconds left before the intermission horn sounded, Wheat Kings defender Vincent Iorio let a bomb rip from the point that beat Søgaard to a chorus of boos from the Canalta Centre faithful.

Luka Burzan’s empty net goal with just over three minutes left in the third period appeared to seal the game for Brandon, however a Daniel Baker wrist shot from the point shortly after would make it a 4-2 game.

A Brett Kemp marker with just 1:02 left in the third gave the Tigers a glimmer of hope trailing by one, but Patera came up with a remarkable save in the final second to fend off a wild comeback attempt by Medicine Hat.

Patera was named the game’s first star with 35 saves in the win, while Søgaard allowed three goals on 18 shots against.

“[Patera] was pretty confident,” said Tigers assistant coach Ryan Smith. “He was snagging pucks and playing them, square to the puck, even when it was scrambly he seemed to know where the puck was. He’s a good goalie and he’s hot right now.”

It was a milestone night for another Wheat Kings netminder though, as Medicine Hat’s Lincoln Koberinski made his WHL debut as an emergency goaltender for Brandon after Ethan Kruger was listed as a late scratch.

Playing for the local Tier I Midget Hounds, Koberinski received a call early Saturday to put on a WHL uniform for the first time against his hometown Tigers.

“I wasn’t really worried,” said Koberinski. “I just suited up and brought my stuff down, that’s all there is to it.”

With the win on Saturday, the Wheat Kings moved to a 3-0 record this year against Medicine Hat and 7-3-1 over the past five years.

“You don’t see a lot of them, so you don’t get to acknowledge it,” said Smith. “They have our number right now and deservedly so, they played pretty good the last couple of times against us. The nice thing is we get them in a week.”

Getting ready for the rematch against Brandon in less than a week, Baker said they’ll have to do a better job at screening the big Czech netminder.

“We know Patera is a really good goalie and he’s going to stop everything he sees,” he said. “Just for us, we got to get in his eyes, get shots through, and have traffic going to the net.”

Seeing a three-game win streak snapped by the Wheat Kings, the 32-15-1-1 Tigers were passed Saturday by Lethbridge for second place in the Central Division with 67 points.

Medicine Hat plays host to the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm, before hitting the road for weekend games in Brandon and Winnipeg.

by Scott Roblin

Tigers late comeback falls one goal short, remain winless against Brandon

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