PRINCE ALBERT — After enduring a couple of close calls in the first two games of their Western Hockey League Eastern Conference semifinal against the Prince Albert Raiders, the Medicine Hat Tigers left nothing to doubt in Game 3 on Wednesday night.
And thanks to their 6-1 victory at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, the Tigers are now a single win away from the third round of the playoffs.
The victory gives Medicine Hat a three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series, and they can finish things off on Thursday night in Prince Albert.
The Tigers couldn’t have asked for a better start to their first game on the road in the series.
Mathew Ward picked the pick out of a scrum along the boards and got off a quick pass to Hunter St. Martin, who took a couple of strides to the centre of the zone before rifling a shot through a screen for the opening goal 58 seconds into the proceedings.
Ward then factored into the second goal of the contest, only this time he’d get the job done himself — and once again early, this time in the second period. The Tigers overager broke down the left wing and got in close on the Raiders goal before putting a perfect wrist shot past Hildebrand, with the marker coming only 1:42 into the period.
Medicine Hat’s lethal power play went to work late in the frame to extend the lead to three. Veeti Vaisanen got the job done with his first of the playoffs, putting a shot in close through a screen and finding a bit of space short side with 5:56 to play in the frame.
Only 1:15 after that goal, it was a 4-0 contest, as former Saskatoon Blades standout Tanner Molendyk finished off a two-on-one with Marcus Pacheco by wiring home a one-timer for his first of the postseason.
The Raiders were able to get one back before the period was out, with Lukas Dragicevic tipping home a point shot by Daxon Rudolph with 21 seconds to play in the second. The goal was Dragicevic’s sixth of the playoffs, tying him for the team lead.
The WHL Playoffs scoring leader jumped on a turnover in the Raiders’ zone and was somehow left completely alone as he broke behind the Prince Albert net, so he did what Gavin McKenna does, picking up the puck on his stick and slamming home a Michigan goal completely in stride.
The goal was McKenna’s sixth of the playoffs, his second highlight-reel goal in as many games and his league-best 20th point of the postseason in only eight games.
McKenna then figured into the Tigers’ next goal, finding the puck along the boards in the Prince Albert zone and getting a pass to an open Ryder Ritchie breaking up the center of the ice, and his quick shot would make it 6-1 with 5:12 gone in the third.
Hildebrand was replaced in favour of Dimitri Fortin after McKenna’s goal and finished with 16 saves on 21 shots. Fortin stopped seven shots in his 14:49 of work.
Harrison Meneghin had 21 saves for Medicine Hat.
Game 4 of the series is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
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