Tigers end Wheat Kings streak

The Medicine Hat Tigers overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 7-3 in a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the Western Hockey League at Co-op Place on Wednesday.

Medicine Hat (22-6-3-2) received its goals from Noah Davidson, Kyle Heger, Liam Ruck, Ethan Neutens, Bryce Pickford, Tyson Moss and Jonas Woo, with Jaxon Jacobson, Nick Johnson and Carter Klippenstein replying for Brandon (18-12-1-0) in front of a crowd of 3,006.

Going into Wednesday’s game, Brandon was on a seven-game winning streak and Medicine Hat hadn’t lost in regulation in their last 13 games, going 11-0-1-1. The Wheat Kings had won the first two games in the season series, with one meeting remaining in Brandon on March 4.

Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his club, which was playing its third game in four days and fifth in the last eight days, seemed to hit the wall.

“I think we were pretty tired,” Murray said. “You could see that as the game wore on. I think as much as you try to fight through it, it was pretty obvious we got a little fatigued. We were there for a little bit and then it got away from us in the third.”

The Wheat Kings opened the scoring on the power play 10 minutes 25 seconds into the game when they moved the puck around until Jordan Gavin found Jacobson on the back door and he fired a shot over the blocker of Medicine Hat goalie Carter Casey.

The Tigers tied the game less than two minutes later.

As Brandon defenceman Daniil Skvortsov tried to break the puck out of his zone, Tigers forward Marcus Ruck created a turnover and the puck went to Davidson, who skated in all alone and beat Brandon goalie Jayden Kraus over his glove on the backhand.

Brandon regained the lead 1:58 into the middle frame on a turnover created by Luke Mistelbacher inside the Medicine Hat zone. The overage winger got the puck over to Johnson, who fired a missile over Casey’s glove.

The game turned in a four-minute stretch midway that kicked off at the 6:51 mark.

Medicine Hat tied it for a second time when Hagar beat Kraus through traffic, and the hosts took their first lead when Liam Ruck swept in the rebound off a shot by Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. Just 47 seconds after that, Neutens fired a shot off the rush that beat Kraus cleanly and the Tigers led 4-2.

“That was the turning point of the game,” Murray said. “I think we got up 2-1 and we’re fighting along there and then they get three quick ones and we’re down 4-2.”

The hosts had a big chance to increase the lead when they went to their first power play because Brandon had four defencemen in the penalty box after a fight and coincidental minors, but the visitors were able to weather the storm.

The Wheat Kings edged closer with 2:22 left in the middle frame when Grayson Burzynski made a slick pass to Klippenstein at the top of the crease for a tip into the net.

There was a video review 24 seconds later during a scramble in the Brandon crease, and the overhead camera showed the puck was in after Kraus got to his feet, but it was hard to tell when it entered the net and it was judged to be no goal.

Medicine Hat restored the two-goal lead 5:05 into the third period when Pickford unloaded on a one-timer with 45 seconds left in a Brandon penalty. It was the 19-year-old defenceman’s league-leading 25th goal of the season.

The dagger came with 7:30 left when, off the rush, Moss beat Kraus over his shoulder to give Medicine Hat a 6-3 lead.

The Wheat Kings handed the Tigers a 65-second, five-on-three power play with 3:05 remaining, but they killed the first minor, and then with the teams playing four-on-four, Kraus was knocked on his back and Woo fired a shot into the empty net with 1:28 left to complete the scoring.

Kraus made 32 saves for the Wheat Kings, with Casey stopping 22 shots for the Tigers. Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play.

After wins against the Edmonton Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels, the Wheat Kings finish up their Alberta trip — and the first half the season — with a game against the Calgary Hitmen on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. (CST).

The players then either ride the bus back to Brandon, get picked up by their Alberta families or fly out of Calgary to get home for Christmas.

“The message after the game was that unfortunately all good things come to an end at some point with the streak, but I want us to put this one behind us and make sure we channel everything into Friday afternoon,” Murray said. “We have an opportunity to go 3-1 on this Alberta trip, which would be really good.

“That’s staring us in the eyes, so hopefully we can rebound. Calgary has a good team too and we’ll have to be ready.”

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and D Adam Hlinsky, plus healthy scratches D Dylan Ronald, F Ryan Boyce and F Gunnar Gleasman … Easton Odut took a hard hit from Bryce Pickford and left the game in the first period in obvious discomfort. He didn’t return … Luke Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with eight shots on net … The game took two hours, 30 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Medicine Hat won 39-31. » pbergson@brandonsun.com