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Gavin McKenna, Tigers sweep Hurricanes, earn spot in WHL final
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Mathew Ward scored twice, Gavin McKenna extended his point streak to 53 games and the Medicine Hat Tigers topped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday to complete the sweep and advance to the Western Hockey League championship. Misha Volotovskii, Bryce Pickford and McKenna, with an empty-net goal and an assist, also contributed to the offence for Medicine Hat. Harrison Meneghin made 18 saves as the Tigers advanced to the final for the first time since 2007. “It’s pretty special to win, this has been a really, really good group,” head coach Willie Desjardins told the Medicine Hat News. “They’ve played above their level lots of times just because of their heart. “(Captain Oasiz) Wiesblatt deserves a lot of credit for the character in their room. We have had some exceptional players, obviously McKenna has had a great run, our defence has been really solid and goaltending has been, so we’ve had lots of good things.” The Tigers will next face the winner between the Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winterhawks. Spokane leads the best-of-seven Western Conference championship series 3-0, with Game 4 going on Thursday. Anthony Wilson, Kash Andresen and Logan Wormald replied for Lethbridge, which made it a one-goal game before McKenna’s empty-netter after entering the third period down 4-1. Jackson Unger turned away 34-of-38 shots. Meanwhile, Mathis Preston and Will McIsaac each had a goal and three assists as the Chiefs took a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference championship with an 8-5 win over the Winterhawks. Chase Harrington, Berkly Catton, Owen Martin, Andrew Cristall, Coco Armstrong and Assanali Sarkenov provided the rest of the offence for Spokane, which broke a 5-5 tie in the third period with three unanswered goals. Josh Zakreski and Diego Buttazzoni, each with two goals, and Joel Plante replied for Portland.
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Mathew Ward scored twice, Gavin McKenna extended his point streak to 53 games and the Medicine Hat Tigers topped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday to complete the sweep and advance to the Western Hockey League championship.
Misha Volotovskii, Bryce Pickford and McKenna, with an empty-net goal and an assist, also contributed to the offence for Medicine Hat. Harrison Meneghin made 18 saves as the Tigers advanced to the final for the first time since 2007.
“It’s pretty special to win, this has been a really, really good group,” head coach Willie Desjardins told the Medicine Hat News. “They’ve played above their level lots of times just because of their heart.
“(Captain Oasiz) Wiesblatt deserves a lot of credit for the character in their room. We have had some exceptional players, obviously McKenna has had a great run, our defence has been really solid and goaltending has been, so we’ve had lots of good things.”
The Tigers will next face the winner between the Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winterhawks. Spokane leads the best-of-seven Western Conference championship series 3-0, with Game 4 going on Thursday.
Anthony Wilson, Kash Andresen and Logan Wormald replied for Lethbridge, which made it a one-goal game before McKenna’s empty-netter after entering the third period down 4-1.
Jackson Unger turned away 34-of-38 shots.
Meanwhile, Mathis Preston and Will McIsaac each had a goal and three assists as the Chiefs took a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference championship with an 8-5 win over the Winterhawks.
Chase Harrington, Berkly Catton, Owen Martin, Andrew Cristall, Coco Armstrong and Assanali Sarkenov provided the rest of the offence for Spokane, which broke a 5-5 tie in the third period with three unanswered goals.
Josh Zakreski and Diego Buttazzoni, each with two goals, and Joel Plante replied for Portland.
