Third period power play ignites Tigers to fourth consecutive win

“I thought our first couple of power plays weren’t as good as they could have been,” said Svejkovsky. “But, after the first period we went over them with [assistant coach] Joe Frazer and he kind of helped us out a little bit, just told us to move the puck faster.”

The Tigers came into Friday night’s contest nursing some big injuries, with forwards Noah Danielson, Nick McCarry and Caleb Willms all listed as week-to-week alongside rookie defenceman Luke Rybinski.

Despite the depleted lineup, Medicine Hat was able to outlast a Hitmen comeback in the second period to extend their win streak.

“We’re missing three key guys offensively for us and we showed great depth there,” said Svejkovsky. “I think the big key for us was just having shorter shifts, we were rolling four lines throughout the entire game and our young guys came up clutch.”

Captain Ryan Chyzowski got the goal scoring started for Medicine Hat midway through the first, taking the puck along the boards off a rush and fooling Calgary’s Brayden Peters from a long way out.

“We’re missing three key guys offensively for us and we showed great depth there,” said Svejkovsky. “I think the big key for us was just having shorter shifts, we were rolling four lines throughout the entire game and our young guys came up clutch.”

Before the end of the opening frame, Corson Hopwo joined in on the scoring with a rocket of a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to make it a 2-0 lead for the Tigers at the intermission.

Out of the break however, Calgary came out swinging with wave after wave of shots against Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklund who made 18 stops in second period alone.

“We have lots of confidence in him… maybe too much,” said Tigers head coach and GM Willie Desjardins. “We know he’s going to make some big saves for us, he’s just there every night. He’s a guy that we probably shouldn’t rely on as much as we do, we just know he’s good.”

The dam finally burst with 5:37 left in the frame, when Calgary’s Josh Prokop took advantage of a Brett Kemp turnover and put his fifth of the year past Bjorklund to cut the deficit to one.

A disciplined Hitmen team began a parade to the penalty box early in the third period however, with Riley Stotts getting the gate on a cross-checking call.

On the ensuing power play, Medicine Hat went to work with Svejkovsky picking up a loose puck behind the Hitmen net and wrapping it around on the backhand to double the Tigers’ lead.

Svejkovsky kept the offence rolling with under six minutes to go, setting up on the right side and ripping a wrist shot top shelf on Peters while on another man advantage.

“It was a really nice screen by [Kemp] there and I kind of just walked into a shot on the side wall and luckily it went in, glove side I think,” said Svejkovsky. “So, those were two big goals.”

That goal served as the dagger for Medicine Hat, closing out the game to take the first contest of the long weekend series.

Bjorklund was stellar in net for the Tigers with 30 saves on 31 shots, while Peters ate the loss for Calgary with a 27-save night.

Friday’s game was also the first for Edge School product Carlin Dezainde, who was officially signed to his WHL standard player deal earlier in the day and played on a line with Chyzowski and Svejkovsky.

“Waking up this morning was pretty different for me not playing in so long,” said Dezainde. “Coming into play for the Tigers especially was a super cool experience and the day was definitely crazy.”

Dezainde’s bloodlines run deep with the Tigers organization, as his grandfather Brian Carlin served as the franchise’s first captain in the 1970-71 season.

“Back when they shut the old rink down I got to come here and he dropped the puck,” said Dezainde. “That was just when I was little, so I’ve always cheered on the Tigers growing up. To come and sign and play is definitely really special for me.”

Some more Tigers history was revisited on Friday night, with celebrated alumnus Derek Dorsett making his first appearance behind the bench as the team’s newest assistant coach.

Dorsett, who played 515 NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, spent three seasons in Medicine Hat in the mid-2000s.

Brought in to help coach for he remainder of the shortened WHL season, his presence has been an exciting one for many players on this year’s Tigers roster.

“Being a Vancouver boy myself, when he was on the Canucks we used to go to games,” said Svejkovsky. “He was one of my favourite players, he played with so much energy and he could do any job on the ice. Obviously, it’s really cool to get a guy like that who just has so much knowledge about the game.”

Medicine Hat and Calgary will re-iginite their rivalry on Saturday night, with the series shifting to the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex with puck drop set for 7:00 pm.

by Scott Roblin

Third period power play ignites Tigers to fourth consecutive win

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