Comeback Cats hit the Hitmen, Medicine Hat win streak sits at six

Late in the first, Tigers defenseman Veeti Vaisanen would head down the tunnel after an awkward collision in the Calgary zone saw him collide head-first into the end wall.

He would return to start the second frame, a relief to many Tiger fans tired of the injury woes.

The Tigers would get most of their chances in the opening frame from the perimeter but could not beat Hitmen netminder Anders Miller who would stop all 10 shots directed his way.

The Tigers would begin the middle frame on the penalty kill after Ryder Ritchie got called for interference with five seconds left in the first.

Calgary would fail to score on the man advantage but would build momentum from it.

The Hitmen would capitalize on that momentum 8:56 into the period when Oliver Tulk wired a cross-ice feed from Sawyer Mynio past the blocker of Harrison Meneghin to get the Hitmen on the board and lead 1-0.

The Hitmen would continue to control play but failed to strike further as they took the 1-0 lead into the second intermission, a good omen for Calgary who were 16-1-0-1 when leading through forty minutes.

Medicine Hat would begin the third period strong, but would quickly find themselves down 2-0 after the Hitmen won a faceoff in the Tigers zone and designed a perfect play to set up Tanner Howe alone in the slot.

The Pittsburgh Penguins product would make no mistake, rifling the puck home to give the Hitmen their first two-goal lead.

Medicine Hat still found themselves down a pair at the halfway mark of the third and needed a spark.

That spark would come from Tanner Molendyk.

He would pick up a loose puck from behind his own goal, and coast end-to-end down the left-wing boards, slipping checks along the way.

Molendyk would cut into the near circle and center a pass for the streaking Ryder Ritchie who one-timed it past Miller to get the Tigers within a goal.

With momentum on their side, the Tigers would continue to push.

Their pressure would force Hitmen forward Ben Kindel into taking a delay of game penalty, sending the rejuvenated Tigers back to the powerplay for just the second time all night.

The Tigers would capitalize.

With exactly 5:00 remaining in the game, Ryder Ritchie would shovel home a loose puck past a scrambling Anders Miller for his second goal of the night, tying the game 2-2.

The Hitmen would aim to respond as moments later a shot on the Tigers net led to a swarm of bodies converging on the Tigers goal but the puck would stay out.

Tense moments would follow as the 4500 in attendance saw the Tigers immediately call for the trainer to tend to their overage netminder Harrison Meneghin.

What appeared serious at first would prove mild at best as Meneghin showed his toughness, never leaving the ice surface after suffering a cut to the wrist amid the scrum.

Off the ensuing face-off, the Hitmen would see a beautiful seam pass find the tape of Tanner Howe who looked to have Meneghin beat.

The Tiger netminder would sprawl across with the blocker, to deny the Hitmen forward and prove he was no worse for wear keeping the game tied at two.

The teams would trade chances down the stretch but remained deadlocked at two which meant overtime was required for the third time in seven meetings between the two rivals.

The Tigers would control all the offense in the extra frame not allowing the Hitmen to register a shot, but the Tigers would be unable to fool Miller.

The closest the Tigers would come would be in the final seconds when a puck was poked to center ice and Ryder Ritchie had eyes for a breakaway, hat-trick, and potential game-winner.

The exhausted Ritchie would hustle to the loose puck but was out muscled as the buzzer would sound sending the game to a shootout.

Despite the defensive showcase, the shootout would prove to be the opposite.

Through the first three shooters, the teams remained tied with Gavin McKenna scoring for the Tigers, and Oliver Tulk scoring for Calgary.

It set the stage for sudden death.

Markus Ruck (MH) and Ethan Merner (CGY) would both fail to score, which set in motion a string of seven consecutive goals.

The Tigers would see Hunter St. Martin, Liam Ruck, and Bryce Pickford all score for the Tigers, putting the Hitmen on the brink with the Hitmen answering every time.

Something had to give.

Jonas Woo would head out as the Tigers eighth shooter and make a beautiful move cutting to his forehand and shovel a puck past the pad of Miller to put the Hitmen at risk for a fifth time.

Brandon Gorzynski would take the ice for Calgary, looking to extend the shootout.

He would fire a wrist shot for the slot that Meneghin would save with the blocker, securing the sweep of the home-and-home for the Tigers and extending the Tiger win streak to six.

Medicine Hat (27-15-2-0) will be off until Tuesday, when they play host to the Regina Pats (12-23-4-2) for their final home game before heading on a six-game road trip.

by Will Bryant

Comeback Cats hit the Hitmen, Medicine Hat win streak sits at six

Our Community