After a four-game B.C. Division road trip, Tri-City returned home Saturday night for a primetime matchup, the lone game on the WHL schedule, before heading back out for three more road games.
Coming off a shutout loss Friday night in Penticton, the Ruck twins and the Medicine Hat Tigers came into town looking to continue their success at the Toyota Center.
Medicine Hat had comfortably won its previous two visits to the Toyota Center, and Saturday night would be no different.
After an explosive four-goal first period, Medicine Hat was able to fend off Tri-City and secure a 5-1 victory.
First Period
Medicine Hat wasted little time taking control, as the opening period was about as lopsided as it could get.
In the blink of an eye, the Tigers found the back of the net twice in just 10 seconds midway through the first period after controlling the pace of play to start the night.
Josh Evachesen opened the scoring with a one-timer from the slot that beat Ryan Grout glove side.
Immediately following the faceoff, Medicine Hat drove back into the Tri-City zone, where Brayden Holberton found Arvid Drott at the backdoor for an easy tap-in and his second goal of the season.
The first-period onslaught continued, with Medicine Hat adding two more goals late in the frame.
Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll cleaned up a rebound in front of the net and put it past Grout to make it 3-0.
Just eight seconds later, Markus Ruck added another, going bardown on Grout.
It had been an embarrassing opening period for Tri-City, who found themselves trailing 4-0 and searching for answers heading into the second.
Head Coach Jody Hull spoke about his team’s lack of preparation and energy following the first period.
“We just weren’t ready to go. I’m not one to make excuses. But when you get back at four in the morning and probably not in their beds until 4:30, it makes for a short night. That being said you still have to go out and play the game. We just weren’t in it mentally.”
Second Period
To begin the second period, Ryan Grout was replaced in net by Xavier Wendt.
Grout stopped 10 of the 14 shots he faced as Tri-City looked for any spark it could find.
Hull discussed the decision to make the change and whether it was a reflection of Grout’s performance or the team’s play in front of him.
“It was more on the team in front of him. You can’t blame him on the goals with the defensive breakdowns in front of him. I think it was more to just try to give the team a bit of a spark, and he’ll be getting his next start.”
Tri-City was handed a few opportunities following some undisciplined play from Medicine Hat, including a brief stretch of five-on-three power-play time.
The Tiger’ penalties eventually came back to bite them, as the Tri-City power play finally found the back of the net.
Dylan LeBret ripped a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Aden Bouchard, beating Carter Casey high glove side to cut the deficit to three.
Czech import David Huk had an opportunity to make things even more interesting when Cruz Pavao found him on a quickly developing two-on-one.
However, Huk’s shot sailed wide, and the Medicine Hat lead remained at three.
Following a massive hit in the Tri-City zone which saw Brock Cheslock get level, Dylan LeBret, who had scored just minutes earlier, took exception and dropped the gloves with Brayden Holberton, who had been looking for someone to fight to throughout the night.
LeBret landed several solid punches before the officials separated the two, bringing the Toyota Center crowd to life.
The second period proved to be much cleaner and more competitive, with Tri-City scoring the lone goal of the frame. Medicine Hat still held a 4-1 advantage heading into the third.
Hull was also blunt about his team’s slow start and what it took to finally get going.
“It took us 20 minutes and getting down four nothing before we decided to start playing.”
Third Period
Still trailing by three, Tri-City looked to carry its improved play from the second period into the final 20 minutes and potentially make a comeback.
Medicine Hat appeared to put the game away just a minute and a half into the period after a play in front of the net resulted in the puck trickling across the goal line.
However, Xavier Wendt immediately protested, believing there had been a kicking motion inside the crease. While kicking the puck into the net is legal outside the crease in the WHL, it is not permitted inside it.
The officials reviewed the play for an extended period before ultimately ruling it no goal, giving Tri-City another opportunity to get back into the game.
That opportunity would not last long.
Just 20 seconds later, Medicine Hat found a clean goal to essentially put the game out of reach.
Arvid Drott made a centering feed from behind the net to Kadon McCann, who lifted the puck over Wendt’s pad and into the net. Drott became the fifth different Tiger to score on the night.
That would close out another game in which a difficult start put Tri-City behind the eight-ball, and the Americans were unable to recover.
Hull discussed why his team has struggled to get going early in several games this season.
“We’re a young team, there’s lots of learning curves, and unfortunately we’re relying on some younger guys to do some things for us. Sometimes those things don’t go right away, it takes a bit of a process to learn how to do it and play the right way, and play in situations like we were in yesterday in Penticton and getting back late tonight. We move forward though and keep pushing.”
Post Game / What’s Next
Tri-City falls to 6-8-1 on the season and drops to 10th in the Western Conference following Saturday night’s loss.
After being outshot 14-4 in the opening period, the Americans played considerably better over the final two periods, outshooting Medicine Hat 22-16.
Tri-City finally got the power-play goal it had been searching for, with LeBret finding the back of the net. However, the power play finished just 1-for-7 on the night. The Americans remained relatively disciplined otherwise, successfully killing off both of Medicine Hat’s power-play opportunities.
Hull also discussed the Ruck twins, both of whom found their way onto the scoresheet Saturday night, with Liam recording an assist and Markus scoring a goal.
“They’re just skilled guys. They know each other real well, they’ve had the benefit of playing with each other for years. Along with that they are dynamic guys to watch and play a pretty active and offensive game along with the team, and that folds right into what they are all about as hockey players.”
Now, Tri-City will hit the road once again for three more games, beginning next Friday in Vancouver.
The Americans will face off against former player Cash Koch, who was traded to the Vancouver Giants during the summer, as they look to get back on track following a difficult weekend of play.
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