Medicine Hat looks to take stranglehold of WHL Final against Spokane in Game 4
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The Medicine Hat Tigers look to take a commanding 3-1 Western Hockey League Championship Series lead over the Spokane Chiefs in Game 4 on Wednesday.
Medicine Hat took their game to another level on Tuesday when they defeated the Chiefs 6-0 in Game 3 despite missing phenom and leading scorer Gavin McKenna.
McKenna participated in warmup prior to Game 3 but was unable to play with an undisclosed injury.
The 17-year-old leads Medicine Hat in playoff scoring with eight goals and 37 points and had his Canadian Hockey League record 54-game point streak snapped during Game 2's 6-2 loss to the Chiefs.
He also finished second in WHL scoring in the regular season with 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games.
"I thought he might be able to go but he couldn't," said Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins after the game. "He's been such a big part of our team all years and it was nice to rally behind him to get one for him because he's got quite a few for us.
"The boys were playing for him."
Two of the players who helped pick up the slack were Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom and Calgary Flames draft pick Andrew Basha, who were both sidelined to begin the playoffs.
Lindstrom recorded the game's opening goal halfway through the first period and added an assist, while Basha added another goal.
However, Lindstrom was forced to exit the game in the second period after taking a hit from Chiefs defenceman Saige Weinstein. The 6-foot-4 centre returned to the bench in the third period but did not play the rest of the way.
Despite the injury, Lindstrom says he's feeling good and is just happy to be able to contribute.
"I'm feeling great, it feels good to help contribute to my team. It's what I wanted to to all year," said Lindstrom. "Obviously, I've been out for a while so just me coming back on the bench is all I really wanted to do. I just wanted to help the team win and bring as much positivity as possible. I wanted to help lead and guide them in the right direction."
Medicine Hat had six different goal scorers in the game with defenceman Bryce Pickford and forwards Kadon McCann and Hunter St. Martin also finding the back of the net.
One of the biggest factors on the ice was captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, who had two assists and 12 penalty minutes in the match and set the tone for the rest of the team.
"He was such an instrumental catalyst for the team," TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said postgame. "Understanding that you don't have McKenna and saw Lindstrom leave with an injury, he never buckled and never stopped playing in every area of the rink.
"I don't care where he was on the ice in this game or who he was playing against, he got every single advantage in this game against every single player he was playing against. They couldn't handle him"
The Tigers outshot Spokane 45-28 in Game 3 and goaltender Harrison Meneghin came up big when called upon.
The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect now has a 12-1 record with three shutouts in the playoffs and is second in the postseason with a 2.41 goals-against average to go along with a .899 save percentage.
"He was a rock back there for Medicine Hat," said TSN Hockey Analyst Nate Thompson. "He didn't get a whole lot of action, but when he did he made the big save and made it look easy. He's kind of calm, cool, and collected back there and it was infectious throughout the Tigers' lineup."
Spokane is looking to rebound in Game 4 in order to tie the series 2-2 after being shut out for the first time since Oct. 18 in a 5-0 loss to the Swift Current Broncos early in the regular season.
Chiefs coach Brad Lauer wasn't happy with his team's performance in Game 3 and wants his team to have a short memory and step up when they return to game action on Wednesday.
"We weren't very good as a group, it's just one of those things," said Lauer. "Medicine Hat probably had one of their best games of the series. They had a lot of jump and were skating and for us, we were on our heels.
"You got to have a short memory [because] 24 hours later we're going to be right back at it. We got to understand and be better as a group. We weren't very good as a group, especially coming back to home ice where we had an opportunity to take advantage as a team."
The WHL Final continues on Friday for Game 5 in Spokane, Wash., which can be seen LIVE at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on TSN1/5, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
The CHL on TSN continues on Thursday when the London Knights can finish off the Oshawa Generals and lift the J. Ross Robertson Cup in Game 5 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN1/4, TSN.ca, and the TSN app.