NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



 Medicine Hat Tigers

Tigers Score 5 and Down Rebels to Take 3-1 Series Lead

April 3, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release


Medicine Hat, AB -- Game 4 for the Medicine Hat Tigers was a must win as the clubs continue their battle in their quarter-final best-of-7 series. With a victory, the Tigers would head back home for Game 5 with a stranglehold on the series and only need one more win to eliminate the pesky Rebels.

The opening period did not start as well as the Tigers wanted. They put the pressure on Red Deer and forced turnovers creating chances but could not capitalize to open the scoring. Instead the Rebels would take advantage as 1st Round NHL Draft Pick Haydn Fleury wristed a shot from just inside the blueline top shelf past Marek Langhamer. The Tigers would be persistant until a couple penalties killed their momentum, however with the help from Langhamer in net the Tigers would kill them off and then were rewarded for their efforts. With 20 seconds left in the period Cole Sanford received a pass from Steven Owre and would wrist a shot home to knot the game up at 1's, the first time in this series the game saw more than 1 goal in a period.

The middle frame saw the Tigers take over in a similar fashion to Wednesday's game when they outshot the Rebels 13-6 and carried the play. Thursday, the Tigers brought their speed to the second period, creating chances with every rush. The Tigers fourth line of Matt Staples and Alex Mowbray would also get in on the action with multiple great shifts, creating the energy needed for the Tigers top line to get back on the scoresheet. Three minutes into the frame Trevor Cox found a loose puck off a Sanford shot and buried the rebound to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

"Garbage goals" are the ones that usually help propel teams further in the playoffs and it usually shows determination to get to the tough spots on the ice. Owre would portray the definition of a garbage goal after Tommy Vannelli took a point shot, Owre battled the Rebels defender and banged home the rebound to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.

In the series not filled with many goals, the third period of this one saw 4 with the Tigers and Dryden Hunt increasing the lead just over a minute in as he took a beauty pass from Kyle Burroughs. The former Regina Pat came in on the breakaway and potted his first of the playoffs extending the lead to 4-1 early. The Rebels would then get lucky as an attempted pass from Meyer Nell went off Conner Bleackley and past Langhamer to cut into the lead 4-2. But with under a minute to go, Brooks Maxwell would get a stick up on Matt Bradley to give the Tigers a 4 minute power play for the remainder of the game.

Medicine Hat would get a bit complacent on the power play, looking to just kill the clock. An errand pass would lead to a Rebels rush and a driving Wyatt Johnson would tip a mid air pass, which fooled Langhamer on the re-direction to give the fans in attendance a pressure packed last 40 seconds. Langhamer would shut the door in those final seconds to record the 39 save victory.

TIGERS FAST FACTS

Four Tigers recorded 2 points each (Cox, Owre, Sanford, Eisenschmid) in the game The empty netter for the Tigers was Medicine Hat's second power play marker of the series Medicine Hat has been perfect on the penalty kill in this series, killing off 9 straight Red Deer opportunities With the victory Marek Langhamer is the WHL Playoff goaltending leader with a 1.45 GAA and 0.955 SV %

Three Stars of the Game:

1. Cole Sanford - MH - (1G, 1A)

2. Haydn Fleury - RD - (1G, 1A)

3. Marek Langhamer - MH - (39 saves, W)

The Tigers and Rebels will head to Medicine Hat for Game 5 on Saturday night where Medicine Hat can end the series and move onto Round 2.


• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...

Western Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central