Tigers forward Corson Hopwo (left) reaching for a loose puck in Friday's 4-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels (Photo courtesy of Randy Feere / Medicine Hat Tigers)

By Scott Roblin

Tigers Win 4-2

Power play prowess drives Tigers rally in return against Rebels

Apr 16, 2021 | 10:22 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Power play goals have been prominent for the Medicine Hat Tigers this season and Friday night’s 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels was no exception.

Over the final 27 minutes of the series opener against Red Deer, the Tabbies found the back of the net three times on the man advantage to record the comeback victory in their return to the ice.

“It’s just getting into the game tempo,” said forward Brett Kemp. “Not playing for two weeks is definitely a toll on your body when you’re trying to get back into games. After the first period, I think we can all can say we felt a lot better and got our legs under us.”

It was Medicine Hat’s first game back in 11 days, as they were pulled off the ice by the WHL last week due to being ruled as a close contact of the Calgary Hitmen, who had a positive case of COVID-19.

That bumped up the Tigers’ bye week, before a rescheduled series with the Rebels was announced for this weekend.

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“It’s just getting into the game tempo,” said forward Brett Kemp. “Not playing for two weeks is definitely a toll on your body when you’re trying to get back into games. After the first period, I think we can all can say we felt a lot better and got our legs under us.”

Medicine Hat needed some time to get their legs back under them, with Rebels forward Ben King scoring the night’s first goal on a breakaway 10 minutes into the first period.

King added to his goal totals early in the second frame as well, letting a wrist shot go from the point that found the back of the net for his second goal in as many periods.

That goal followed a pile of penalties for the Tigers, which was the story of Friday’s game with Medicine Hat heading to the box eight times. Red Deer however, was unable to score on any of those chances, which cost them in the end.

Corson Hopwo netted Medicine Hat’s first power play goal with 6:26 remaining in the middle frame, extending his goal scoring streak to seven games in the process.

That opened the door for Kemp to score his ninth of the year early in the third period on the man advantage, which was followed seconds later by an Eric Van Impe laser which went bar down to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.

Hopwo put the game away with less than seven minutes left in regulation, tipping a Ryan Chyzowski point shot to post his second multi-goal game of the season against Red Deer.

“It’s definitely a nice feeling to chip in with the offence,” said Hopwo. “It’s nice to get the win and get the points to battle for the first spot here.”

In the Tigers crease, Garin Bjorklund improved his record on the year to 7-3-0-1 with a 23-save night, while Ethan Anders came up with some big stops in the loss for the Rebels with 33 saves to his credit.

On top of the Tigers extending their points streak to seven games without a regulation loss, head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins pulled within one win of the franchise’s all-time coaching wins record of 375 victories.

“He’s so smart, so well spoken, just his pro knowledge and what he knows is unbelievable,” said Hopwo. “He’s really brought that to us and I’m forever grateful.”

The rematch between the Tigers and Rebels is set for Saturday night at 7:00 pm in Red Deer, before the three-game series winds up on Monday back at Co-Op Place.