Tigers' Textbook Defense Leads to 1-0 Victory
Published on March 8, 2015 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release
Medicine Hat, AB -- The Medicine Hat Tigers have been playing good hockey as of late, winning 3 of their last 4. Saturday night was a big test against a division rival opponent, the Kootenay Ice. A weird twist to start the game as the night was postponed by an hour due to the Ice bus breaking down just 2 hours away from Medicine Hat. The delay did not seem to phase the Tigers as they worked their way to a 1-0 win.
The opening period was crucial for the Tigers as they needed to take advantage of a tired Ice team who had spent an hour or so on their bus waiting for a new one. The Tigers definately took notice and ran the Ice into the ground, shift after shift. Medicine Hat's top line would get on the board just over 3 minutes into the frame. Cole Sanford rattled his 48th of the season past Ice goaltender Wyatt Hoflin. Trevor Cox made a nice play to setup Sanford, the assist gave Cox 100 points on the season, the first WHLer to do so. The remainder of the period saw the Tigers push the gas pedal and take it to the Ice, outshooting the visitors 16-5.
Kootenay must have been happy after the second period as they played a great road game keeping the score close despite continuing to be outplayed. The Tabbies poured on the pressure, but Wyatt Hoflin was up to his old tricks, robbing Tigers left and right of sure goals. Hoflin got some help from his friends, the red posts as Medicine Hat clanged a couple off the pipe. Matt Staples and Steven Owre fell vicitim to the skinny defenders as the Tigers were buzzing often tonight. The score remained 1-0 after 40 minutes, the Tigers holding the Ice to 7 shots total through 2 periods.
The final frame was tense as the score was close. The game had a playoff atmosphere to it and reminded many of the game in Game 7 of last year's playoffs against these two teams. Kootenay actually outshot the Tigers in the period 9-7 as they threw everything they had at Marek Langhamer trying to get a garbage goal to tie it up. Langhamer was not tested much but made the save of the game on a Kootenay 2 on 1. The puck was passed across the ice and found the tape of a driving Ice forward, Langhamer did the splits and stopped the disk from heading into the net, a remarkable save. Medicine Hat pushed for the empty net as Hoflin was pulled for the extra attacker. Three times the Tabbies went for the net but just missed wide, including a shot by Cox in the dying seconds. The buzzer sounded, Langhamer and the Tigers picked up the 1-0 victory, their 4th in their past 5 games.
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