Stoked in Spok’, Tigers kick off US road trip with a bang

The game would start fast, but not in the Tigers’ favour.

Thirty-one seconds in, Shae Van Olm wired a one-timer past Tigers goaltender Harrison Meneghin to give Spokane an early 1-0 lead.

The goal was Van Olm’s league-leading 34th, with assists going to Andrew Cristall and Berkley Catton, giving those three players a combined 45 points in their last seven games.

The two teams would trade powerplay chances late in the frame but neither would be able to capitalize, ending the opening 20 minutes 1-0 for Spokane.

The Tigers’ best opportunity of the period would come short-handed from captain Oasiz Wiesblatt who drove across the net of Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan, but Cowan would sprawl to make the save and keep the Chiefs in front.

The second period would bring more of the same.

The Tigers would see two top-tier chances from Gavin McKenna and Hunter St. Martin, but neither could find the back of the net.

McKenna would see a one-timer from the bottom of the far circle, saved by Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan, who was outstanding on the night.

Cowan sprawled cross-crease to reach out and rob the Tigers leading scorer with the glove.

Moments later, St. Martin would head in alone on a breakaway, and send a wrist shot off the post.

That would be as close as the Tigers came, entering the second intermission still trailing 1-0.

The third period would start with the Tigers short-handed, having to kill off the remainder of a Tanner Molendyk hooking minor taken in the final two minutes of the second period.

The Tigers would prove successful on the kill, but Spokane built momentum from it, and eventually capitalized.

Just over five minutes into the third, Rasmus Ekstrom stole a breakout pass deep in Medicine Hat territory and fed it to Assanali Sarkenov who shelved it past Meneghin to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead.

Similar to the Tigers come-from-behind win against Calgary, once down 2-0, the Tigers came alive.

Halfway into the third, the Tigers would finally solve Cowan.

A scramble for a loose puck would see the rubber trickle to the point where Tigers defenseman Josh Van Mulligan would find a seam, and send a shot towards the yawning cage.

The puck deflected off a skate, and past the out-stretched leg of Cowan who would see fifty minutes of shutout hockey disappear, alongside his team’s two-goal lead.

Moments after making the game 2-1, the Tigers were right back in and looking for more.

Tiger forward Mathew Ward drove the Spokane goal and got shoved into the goaltender Cowan.

The referee saw the shove, and let play continue. However, Chiefs defenseman Saige Weinstein took exception, repeatedly cross-checking Ward who was lying flat on the ice.

That referee’s arm went up in response, sending the Tigers to just their second powerplay of the hockey game.

The Tigers would capitalize.

In the dying moments of the powerplay, Gavin McKenna would hammer a one-timer past Cowan to silence the 7,000+ in attendance and tie the game at two.

Momentum had completely shifted to the Tigers, but Spokane would not go down without a fight.

After a turnover by the Tigers in their own zone, Van Olm was staring down his second goal of the night and had a yawning cage to fire upon.

As he fired the shot, Meneghin used every inch of his 6’4″ frame to reach across with the glove and make a highlight reel save to keep the Tigers tied at two, and stun the Spokane faithful.

Less than a minute after the Meneghin save, the Tigers would again find themselves in the Chiefs zone.

A puck popped free to the point where Tigers defenseman Jonas Woo faked a one-timer from the slot, waited to his right, and wristed the puck past Cowan to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead, just five minutes after they trailed 2-0.

The arena was silent.

The Tigers had completely shocked the Chiefs faithful who had been boisterous all game long.

The Chiefs again would attempt to answer.

With 3:30 remaining, Berkley Catton drove down the left-wing wall of the Tigers zone and ate a thunderous check from Josh Van Mulligan that rocked the helmet off Catton.

That hit was a summary of the third. Thunderous, suffocating play from the Tigers had rocked the spirits of the Chiefs.

With 1:29 left in the third, the Chiefs would pull the goalie but would fail to generate much danger towards the net of Harrison Meneghin.

The Tigers would clear the zone with 0:15 left, and the Chiefs looked poised for one last rush, but tempers got the better of the Chiefs who went after the TIgers and all but won the game for the Tigers.

The whistle would sound with six second left, and the Tigers would emerge from the mayhem on the man-advantage.

The puck would be dropped in the Spokane zone, the Chiefs fired a prayer down theice but it was knocked down at center and the buzzer sounded, securing the Tigers their eighth straight win.

This also marks the Tigers fifth win of the season when they trailed through 40 minutes.

For Spokane, it’s just the third time this season they’ve blown a lead when ahead through two periods. They were 25-2-0-0 heading into the game.

Medicine Hat (29-15-2-0) will continue their six-game US division road-trip tomorrow night as they take on the Tri-City Americans (22-17-3-1) and aim to stretch their win streak to nine games.

by Will Bryant

Stoked in Spok’, Tigers kick off US road trip with a bang

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