MEDICINE HAT, AB — Max Gerlach must love playing against his former team.
The former Medicine Hat Tiger picked up a pair of goals to lift his Saskatoon Blades to a 6-3 victory at the Canalta Centre on Wednesday night.
Saskatoon (35-18-8-0) has now won nine of their last 11 games, and haven’t lost in regulation since Jan. 12.
Gerlach has tallied goals in all four games against this former teammates this season, and is riding a 12-game point streak.
Medicine Hat (31-19-3-2) remain a single point back of Edmonton, who lost in Brandon, for the Central Division lead.
Nolan Maier earned the victory in the Blades goal with 25 saves. Dawson Davidson collected three assists for Saskatoon.
Mads Søgaard, named the CHL’s Goaltender of the Week on Tuesday, allowed six goals on 28 shots. It’s the 6’7” Danish product’s first regulation loss since Dec. 4. He was pulled following the Blades sixth goal for the first time in his WHL career.
Jordan Hollett stopped three shots in relief.
The Tigers had won four of the last five games, which included earning seven of a possible eight points on a grueling four-game road trip that wrapped up in the U.S. Division on Sunday.
Medicine Hat opened the scoring 2:44 into the game. A long shot by Dylan MacPherson was deflected high above Maier and landed in the blue paint. Hamblin whacked it into the empty cage for his 31st of the season.
Gerlach tied the game at 1-1 with less than five minutes to go in the first. The sixth-round pick of the Tigers skated in on Søgaard on the right wing and beat the towering net-minder over his left shoulder for a power-play marker.
The Blades held a 12-7 advantage in shots after 20 minutes.
Saskatoon scored two goals less than four minutes apart in the second.
Logan Christensen, who was sent to the Tigers in exchange for Gary Haden, watched from the penalty box as Ryan Hughes gave the Blades their first lead of the game at 9:10.
Haden fed Gerlach for his second of the night minutes later, snapping a wicked shot over Søgaard’s glove hand.
Tigers rookie Nick McCarry cut the Blades lead to 3-2 with 4:19 remaining in the second, but Eric Florchuk deflated the home crowd with 22.5 seconds to go. His 18th of the year regained Saskatoon’s two-goal lead at 4-2 heading into the second intermission.
The Blades continued their scoring tear into the third period. Tristen Robins scored 1:52 into the final period and captain Chase Wouters salted the wound with a short-handed marker at 3:52.
Gerlach was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the final five minutes, and Ryan Jevne sawed into the Blades lead on the ensuing power play.
Medicine Hat will look to bounce back Friday night, taking a trip to Calgary to face the Hitmen at 7:00 p.m.
