Shorties pace Tigers past Canes

By Dale Woodard on April 30, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

A pair of shorthanded goals were more than enough to power the Medicine Hat Tigers to victory Thursday night.

The Tigers topped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-2 in Western Hockey League play Thursday night at the Enmax Centre, the first of three weekend games between the two rivals that continues Saturday night in Medicine Hat.

Medicine Hat’s Cole Clayton scored shorthanded 3:51 into the second period to snap a 1-1 tie and Nick McCarry added another shortie midway through the period for a 3-1 lead — which also stood up as the game-winner — as the Tigers enjoyed a four-goal second period en route to the win.

Brett Kemp and Lukas Svejkovsky each scored twice for the Tigers.

Jett Jones and Ty Nash replied for the Hurricanes, who are now 8-11-2-0 with the loss, while the Tigers improve to 13-6-0-1

Kemp opened the scoring on a big rebound off of Canes goaltender Carl Tetachuk for a 1-0 lead 6:44 into the first.

The Hurricanes pulled even when Jett Jones netted his fifth of the season, scooping up a loose puck after linemate Jacob Boucher took a hit from Kemp, sliding a shot past Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund to tie it 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

The Tigers took control quickly in the second.

Clayton slid a shot past Tetachuk to make it 2-1 early in the second before McCarry added the other special teams marker on a breakaway.

Kemp netted his second of the game with a nice feed from Oren Shtrom that he stuffed home for his 12th or the season.

Svejkovsky was the beneficiary of an odd-man rush after some sustained Hurricanes pressure, one-timing his 11th of the season past Tetachuk to make it 5-1 with 2:06 left in the second.

Shortly afterward, Hurricanes defenceman Joe Arntsen and Tigers blue-liner Rhett Parsons squared off in a spirited tilt with both players landing some rights. Both were given fighting majors and a game misconduct.

Svejkovsky added his second of the game 5:36 into the third.

Nash got one back for Lethbridge on the power play with 4:29 left in the game.

McCarry just missed his second of the game with a little over three minutes left when a nice tic-tac-toe passing play glanced off his stick and just wide.

Shtrom and Noah Danielson each had two assists for the Tigers.

The Canes outshot the Tigers 31-26.

The Hurricanes were 1-for-6 on the man advantage. The Tigers were 0-for-3.

Tetachuk, who was looking for his 50th career WHL win that would have made him the sixth goaltender in franchise history to hit that mark, stopped 24 of 30 shots, while Bjorklund made 30 saves.

After Saturday night’s 7 p.m. game in Medicine Hat, the teams wrap up the weekend series back in Lethbridge on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre.

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