Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Tigers tame Cougars in two-game sweep

Six unanswered goals Tuesday night. A five-goal uninterrupted outburst in the rematch Wednesday at CN Centre. By the time they were done the Medicine Hat Tigers left no doubt they rule the Cats' den in the Western Hockey League jungle.
cougars logo

Six unanswered goals Tuesday night.

A five-goal uninterrupted outburst in the rematch Wednesday at CN Centre.

By the time they were done the Medicine Hat Tigers left no doubt they rule the Cats' den in the Western Hockey League jungle.

Coming on the heels of their colossal collapse in a 7-4 loss to the Central Division leaders the previous night the Cougars' greatest fears were realized.

Their early lead wilted when the Tigers took the lead late in the opening period and the visitors scored three more in the first 3:28 of the second period on the way to a 7-3 victory in front of an announced crowd of 2,443.

James Hamblin potted a rebound to put the Tigers ahead 16.7 seconds before the break. The onslaught continued 1:45 into the next period when the puck got caught up in the skates of Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg, springing Gary Haden inside the zone and he made a perfect pass to Max Gerlach.

Then at 2:13, Hamblin scored his second of the game on an unassisted effort, going wide to his backhand side to fool goalie Taylor Gauthier. New York Islanders prospect David Quenneville made it a 5-1 count with a big-league one-timer set up by Mark Rassell.

That spelled the end of the night for Gauthier, replaced by Isaiah DiLaura after allowing five goals on 19 shots.

The win solidified the Tigers' grip on first place in the Central Division as they improved to 15-7-0-0. The Cougars (9-11-2-2) remain fourth in the B.C. Division.

The Cougars had their moments of brilliance but their lack of consistency, a pattern that's dogged them lately, proved their downfall. They started the game with a flurry of activity around the Tigers' net. Jared Bethune had four quality shots on goalie Michael Bullion before the six-minute mark and Brogan O'Brien finally cashed in on a perfect cross-ice feed from Kody McDonald to open the scoring at 7:40.

That combination connected to stem the bleeding a little bit, 11:07 into the second period and O'Brien sprung the puck free in front for McDonald who had an open net to shoot at for his 14th of the season. That made it a 5-2 game.

The Cougars and their league-worst power play were given a chance to improve on a 14 per cent success rate late in the period, but it was the Tigers who took advantage first. McDonald tried to pass to a teammate by putting the puck off the end boards but it trickled to Ryan Chyzowski in deep and he fed it over to Ryan Jevne, who scored shorthanded against the Cougars for the second time in two games. The Cougars did get that one back, however, a right wing rush McDonald finished with a shot over the dipped shoulder of Bullion.

Down 6-3 the Cougars generated some great chances in the third period and put 43 shots on the Tiger net in the game but couldn't crack that three-goal lead.

LOOSE PUCKS: There's been a change at the top in the Cougars organization. John Pateman is now the Cougars president, replacing Greg Pocock, who remains the team's governor. Pateman retains his role as the alternate governor. In May 2014, Pocock took over as head of the EDGEPRO Entertainment Group, which also includes local businessmen Pateman, Ray Fortier, Ernest Ouellet, as well as NHL defencemen Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer (now retired), when they bought the Cougars from Rick Brodsky... The Cougars play their next two games on the road. On Saturday they'll face the Kamloops Blazers and next Wednesday they play the Rockets in Kelowna. The Cats will return to CN Centre for a two-game weekend set against the Vancouver Giants Dec. 1-2.... Tigers play-by-play broadcaster Bob Ridley called his 3,800th game for the Tigers two weekends ago in Calgary. He's been behind the mic since the Tigers joined the WHL in 1970.

Tigers 7 at Cougars 3

First Period

1. Prince George, O'Brien 9 (McDonald, Mikhalchuk) 7:40

2. Medicine Hat, Haden 5 (White, Gerlach) 13:14

3. Medicine Hat, Hamblin 6 (Gerlach, Nassen) 19:43

Penalties - Gally MH (fighting), Anderson PG (fighting), Quenneville MH (embellishment), Boyd PG (slashing), MacPhee MH (interference) 8:07, Mikhalchuk PG (high-sticking) 17:35.

Second Period

4. Medicine Hat, Gerlach 9 (Haden, White) 1:45

5. Medicine Hat, Hamblin 6, 2:13

6. Medicine Hat, Quenneville 7 (Rassell, Gerlach) 3:28 (pp)

7. Prince George, McDonald 14 (O'Brien, Mikhalchuk) 11:07

8. Medicine Hat, Jevne 8 (Chyzowski, Rubins)17:36 (sh)

9. Prince George, McDonald 15 (Cholowsky) 18:51 (pp)

Penalties - Maser PG (slashing) 3:12, MacPherson MH (ripping) 17:21.

Third Period

10. Medicine Hat, Rassell 23 (MacPherson) 14:50

Penalties - O'Rourke PG (goaltender interference) 3:17, Clayton MH (tripping) 19:14

Shots on goal by

Medicine Hat 15 18 8 -42

Prince George 14 17 12 -43

Goal - Medicine Hat, Bullion (W,6-4-1); Prince George, Gauthier (L,2-5-0, 19-12) and at 11:07 of second, DiLaura (23-21).

Power play - MH: 1-3; PG: 1-3.

Referees - Adam Bloski, Brett Iverson; Linesmen - Josh Albinati, Nick Albinati.

Attendance - 2,443.

Scratches - Medicine Hat: C Mason Shaw (MCL, out indefinitely), RW Josh Williams (broken collarbone, out indefinitely), LW Henry Rybinski (healthy), LW Baxter Anderson (healthy); Prince George: G Tavin Grant (healthy). LW Jackson Leppard (flu), D Jack Sander (healthy), C Chance Adrian (healthy), C Liam Ryan (healthy).