Tigers over Ice gamer

For Cranbrook Daily Townsman

Tigers scratch Ice in OT

by Jeff Bromley

Tigers are striped for a reason; the camouflage helps them not to be seen by their prey before it’s too late. The Medicine Hat Tiger Wacey Hamilton used the same tactic Saturday and before Kootenay knew it, they were done like dinner.

Hamilton potted his ninth of the season past a prone Nathan Lieuwen in overtime Saturday night at the Rec Plex to give Kootenay’s Central Division rivals a 3-2 win. The extra point pushed the Tigers (18-8-2-0) to within three points of the Ice (19-7-1-2), who sit third with 41 points, two back of both Red Deer and Saskatoon who sit tied atop the Eastern Conference with 43 points. “We looked like the team at the end of a road trip,” said Ice forward Kevin King of his club when in fact it was the visitors who were putting the finishing touches on a six game trip away from the Gas City. “We didn’t put together a sixty minute effort tonight and if you don’t do that against teams like the Tigers you won’t win.”

“We can’t take any team lightly and it almost seems like we did that tonight.”

Sandwiched between four and five-game stints away from the Rec Plex that picks up again Wednesday in Prince Albert the Ice seemed stuck in the snow from the drop of the puck and looked much different from the club that beat the WHL-leading Portland Winterhawks just three nights prior. After a stretch of dominant play in the Ice zone by the Tigers it was the match-up of fourth lines that opened the scoring for the visitors. Cole Grbavac found a puck down low and fed Reid Petryk cutting into the low slot. Lieuwen stopped the first one but Petryk slid the rebound along the ice and past his out-stretched glove for a 1-0 lead.

On A&W Toque and Mitten night many of the 2417 in attendance waited patiently for the home side to light the lamp in order to heave their wares onto the ice. Two breakaways – both by Ice forward Brock Montgomery – and a post along with some solid chances gave the indication the crowd might be keeping them until the final buzzer. D Brayden McNabb put an end to those thoughts 17:04 into the second with a blast from the point with the Ice on a power play that tied the game and showered the ice with winter paraphernalia. The goal was a welcome change for the league’s 20th-ranked power play and shifted the outlook of the game. Early in the third however Kootenay’s power play would fizzle on a glorious 5-on-3 opportunity and six minutes later Medicine Hat would give the Ice a taste of the 5-on-3 elixir with both Kevin King and Brayden McNabb in the box. Possessing the WHL’s leading point-getter in Linden Vey it wasn’t long before he had his 19th goal and league-best 49th point with a blast from the deep slot to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

2:29 later McNabb would atone for the gaffe that put the Ice down two-men as he stepped out of the box and joined in on a 3-on-2. Matt Fraser’s slapshot would produce a rebound for McNabb, his fourth goal of the season and second on the night to tie it at two. The play would be video reviewed but ruled a good goal. The goal set-up the overtime and the fortuitous bounce off the glass that landed on Hamilton’s stick and had Lieuwen broke his over the post in frustration after the puck was behind him. “We didn’t compete very well all night,” said Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch. “At the end of the day it might have been a good bounce for the Tigers (in overtime) but we were still out of position.”

“He (Lieuwen) played well enough for us to win and it would’ve been nice to get it to a shootout, where Nathan does so well but tonight it wasn’t to meant to be.”

Quick Hits – McNabb’s first goal of the night brought down enough toques, mittens and even some Teddy Bears to fill two truckloads that will be distributed through the Salavation Army and Angel Tree to those in need this winter… D Hayden Rintoul and forward Erik Benoit are both still 2-3 weeks away with knee injuries. In Rintoul’s case the Calgary product has a slight tear to his MCL and won’t see any action until after Christmas… Kootenay heads back out on the road for a four-game set through the Prairies starting Wednesday in Prince Albert… D Brayden McNabb will play in Prince Albert and then Friday in Moose Jaw before leaving the club in his attempt to make Team Canada starting Saturday in Toronto... The Rec Plex Three-Stars were 1. D Brayden McNabb 2. D Thomas Carr and 3. G Nathan Lieuwen.