If the Medicine Hat Tigers were looking for any reassurance they are one of the top teams in the Western Hockey League, they got what they were after Wednesday night at CN Centre.
Steven Owre made sure of that when he struck for a goal and three assists to keep the Prince George Cougars on the losing side of a 6-4 decision which prevented them from improving their league-leading record.
Nick Schneider was the difference-maker in the end. The 19-year-old Tigers goalie blocked 38 shots and was at his best withstanding a 19-shot storm in the second period to keep his team ahead.
The Tigers snapped the Cougars' seven-game unbeaten streak and improved Central Division-leading record to 11-4-1-0, handing the Cougars (13-3-2-0) only their third regulation time loss of the season.
Zach Fischer scored two goals for the Tigers, who improved to 3-0 on their road trip, following weekend wins in Red Deer and Edmonton.
The Cougars made a determined comeback attempt late in the game when Jesse Gabrielle snuck shot through Schneider's legs on the power play with the goalie on the bench to make it a one-goal game with 1:40 left but John Dahlstrom sealed the win with an empty-netter.
The Tigers came with the league's No. 1 power play (34.2 per cent) taking on the Cougars and their top-ranked penalty kill (87.3 per cent success rate) and Round 1 of the special teams battle went to the Cougars. With Cougars defenceman Joel Lakusta off for tripping, Jared Bethune took advantage of a giveaway at the far blueline by Fischer and went the length of the ice on a breakaway, fooling Schneider with a forehand-backhand deke. That goal, 2:28 into the game, ended an 11-game scoring drought for Bethune, who had five goals in his first six games to start the season.
The Tigers got that one back at the 12:35 mark of the first period, an even-strength goal from Max Gerlach, after an offensive zone face-off win from linemate James Hamblin. Gerlach went to the short side on Ty Edmonds and was in and out of the net in a flash.
The Tigers have been no slouches this season while shorthanded, ranked right behind the Cougars at 87.5 per cent and their proficiency on the penalty kill gave them the lead right before the first intermission. Chad Butcher was sprung free on a 2-on-1 chance and dished the puck to Owre, who went wide on Edmonds for his second goal of the season.
Held to just eight shots in the first 20 minutes, the Cougars put Schneider to the test to start the second period. They put nine shots on the Tigers netminder in the first six minutes of the period but were held without a goal. Jansen Harkins had a near-miss trying to pick the corner wide and his linemate Bethune was denied three times by Schneider with close-range shots from the slot before Tigers coach Shaun Clouston called a time-out to settle his troops.
Not long after that, the Tigers went on their second power play of the game and made the Cougars pay with a tic-tac-toe passing play to increase their lead to 3-1, 9:50 into the second period. WHL scoring leader Mason Shaw took a quick pass from Owre and fed the puck over to Fischer, whose one-timer from the slot found the net. The assist was the 26th point in 15 games for Shaw, an 18-year-old draft-eligible centre from Wainright, Alta.
But the Cougars had an answer for that with 2:14 left in the period. Bethune, the best Cougar of the night, dug the puck out of the corner for Justin Almeida at the side of the net. Almeida saw Cougars defenceman Sam Ruopp pinching in from the point and fed him a backhand pass which he buried into the net.
The Tigers' power play struck again, four minutes into the third period, after the Cougars got caught with too many men on the ice. David Quenneville took the shot from the point and it got through traffic past a screened Edmonds. Fischer made it 5-2 with his second of the game after the Cougars had trouble clearing the zone.
Yan Khomenko gave the Cougars some life, stickhandling through five Tigers and scoring one of the prettiest goals of the season with a wide-angle shot to cut the lead to 5-3. But it was too little too late.
LOOSE PUCKS: Twenty-year-old Cougars winger Colby McAuley missed Wednesday's game with a separated shoulder he suffered five minutes into the Cougars 3-2 overtime loss Saturday in Calgary when he got checked into the boards. The native of Sherwood Park, Alta., has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 17 games, on pace for his best season since joining the Cougars as an 18-year-old.. The Kamloops Blazers will be in town to take on the Cougars Saturday night at CN Centre in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals. The Blazers 9-8-1-0 lost 2-1 in overtime to Lethbridge Wednesday night in Kamloops.
Wednesday WHL summary
Tigers 6 at Cougars 4
First Period
1. Prince George, Bethune 6, 2:28 (sh)
2. Medicine Hat, Gerlach 10, 12:25
3. Medicine Hat, Owre 2 (Butcher) 19:19
Penalties - Lakusta PG (tripping) 1:57, Gerlach MH (slashing) 17:30.
Second Period
4. Medicine Hat, Fischer 9 (Shaw, Owre) 9:50 (pp)
5. Prince George, Ruopp 2 (Ameida, Bethune) 17:46
Penalties – O’Brien PG (slashing) 8:56.
Third Period
6. Medicine Hat, Quenneville 9 (Owre, Butcher) 4:09 (pp)
7. Medicine Hat, Fischer 10 (Owre) 6:57
8. Prince George, Khomenko 6, 13:11
9. Prince George, Gabrielle 7 (Bethune, Harkins) 18:20 (pp)
10. Medicine Hat, Dahlstrom 7 (Bradley) 19:32 (en)
Penalties – PG bench (too many men, served by Morrison) 2:59, Gally MH (cross-checking) 18:20, Fischer MH (roughing), Anderson PG (double roughing), McDonald PG (slashing major, game misconduct), Ruopp PG (fighting, game misconduct) 20:00.
Shots on goal by
Medicine Hat 13 11 13 -37
Prince George 8 19 13 -40
Goal – Medicine Hat, Schneider (W,10-2-1-0); Prince George, Edmonds (L,9-2-1-0).
Power plays – MH: 2-3; PG: 1-2.
Referees – Kevin Bennett, Kye Kowalski; Linesmen – Tom Hentiuk, Nick Albinati.
Attendance – 2,737.
