On their road journey through the USA, the Medicine Hat Tigers win their fifth straight game and their 12th overall. The game only truly got out of control in the third quarter, but they defeated the Portland Winterhawks 7-2.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 1st 7:04 MH Oasiz Wiesblatt (Ryder Ritchie, Gavin McKenna) 0-1 |
| 1st 12:20 MH (PP) Tanner Molendyk (Ryder Ritchie, Oasiz Wiesblatt) 0-2 |
| 1st 15:39 MH Ryder Ritchie (Gavin McKenna) 0-3 |
| 2nd 15:35 MH Hunter St. Martin 0-4 |
| 2nd 18:04 POR Josh Zakreski (Carsyn Dyck, Diego Buttazzoni) 1-4 |
| 3rd 7:10 MH Liam Ruck (Markus Ruck, Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll) 1-5 |
| 3rd 8:17 MH Gavin McKenna (Oasiz Wiesblatt) 1-6 |
| 3rd 10:11 MH Jonas Woo (Misha Volotovskii, Bryce Pickford) 1-7 |
| 3rd 11:02 POR Josh Zakreski (Carter Sotheran, David Hoy) 2-7 |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 0:00 |
| Tied | 7:04 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 5:16 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 47:40 |
Narratives
Pregame: The Winterhawks have a tough weekend ahead of them as they play two teams higher in the standings. And the Tigers, the league’s second-ranked team, sought their 12th consecutive victory as they attempted to sweep the US Division, which was two-thirds of the way there. Additionally, 2026 NHL 1st overall pick Gavin McKenna was aiming for a 25-game point streak.
First period: A contentious call denied the Winterhawks the game’s first goal during a respectable stretch. The Tigers then showed that it most likely wouldn’t have made a difference. After three goals, Portland was in serious trouble. A 10-minute clinic was presented by Medicine Hat. Shots were generous to Portland, finishing 13–10.
Second period: The Winterhawks appeared to have scored after the Tigers gave Portland numerous opportunities on the power play, but another goal was disallowed by an after-the-fact call. In the end, Portland was unable to score, and the Tigers made it 4-0 late before the Winterhawks responded.
Third period: Liam Ruck officially ended the game at 5-1, but it was already over. Before Portland scored their final goal, it was 7-1, and the next nine minutes were trash time as the Tigers threw their best effort on Portland.
How it was won: 1) Medicine Hat’s top line consisted of three forwards, each with three points.
2) Special units. When it was tight, Medicine Hat was 1 for 1 on the power play while Portland was 0 for 4. The Tigers are now just two points behind the Winterhawks, who have led by a significant margin in special teams goal differential for the majority of the season.
3) Portland’s top scorers were held down by the Tigers. Diego Buttazzoni had an assist but only one shot, while Kyle Chyzowski and Tyson Jugnauth failed to score.
4) Harrison Meneghin had a strong performance in goal during a close contest.
Important stretch/moment: Portland’s second goal that was disallowed in the second period came on a ruling that was even less clear-cut than the one in the first. Another two-minute power play would have made it 3-1. Hope would have existed.
Unexpectedly, Gavin McKenna only had one chance. He has a significant advantage over the Tigers in shots per game. In any case, he was a powerful player and scored on it. At the age of 17, he may be the best player in the league.
It should come as no surprise that the Winterhawks gave themselves two of the three stars in a 7-2 loss. It goes on: overall, they have given themselves more stars than they have goals in home losses.
Large-scale disputes. Both of the Winterhawks’ disallowed goals were waved off during huddles that took place minutes after TNT had concluded play. These judgments were made retroactively rather than at the time. Ryan Miller was offside on a home run pass by yards, thus the first call was obviously right. The linesman most likely missed the offside because he was focused on the icing. Although they were correct, making such calls after the fact throws up a can of worms. As demonstrated by the second contentious call, which concerned whether the Tigers had adequate puck control to halt a delayed penalty just before Kyle Chyzowski’s goal. At best, it was a 50/50 call, and you can’t change your mind after the fact based on such a coin flip. With a 2-minute Portland power play, it might have paved the way for a comeback by Portland, bringing the score to 3-1.
Obviously, the best team triumphed.
No suspensions or injuries.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin McKenna | MH | 1 goal, 2 assists | The real deal. 25-game point streak, and his lead in the WHL scoring race is now 6 points. |
| Tanner Molendyk | MH | 1 goal | You could throw a blanket over the top five, really. |
| Oasiz Wiesblatt | MH | 1 goal, 2 assists | The opening goal. 4-game point streak. |
| Harrison Meneghin | MH | 26 saves-28 shots | Continues to play well after coming back from injury earlier in the month. |
| Ryder Ritchie | MH | 1 goal, 2 assists | |
| Jonas Woo | MH | 1 goal | 6-game point streak. |
| Bryce Pickford | MH | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. |
| Hunter St. Martin | MH | 1 goal | 3-game point streak. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 2 goals | 4-game point streak. |
| Carsyn Dyck | POR | 1 assist | +2 in a game Portland lost by 5 goals. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marek Schlenker | POR | 25 saves-32 shots | Nobody responsible for preventing goals for Portland had a game they will write home about. Probably would have gotten a mercy pull if they didn t have an important game Saturday that they d want Ondrej t bet k rested for. |
| Marcus Pacheco | MH | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Mathew Ward | MH | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 assist | 3-game point streak, but was held pretty well and had 1 shot. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 8-game point streak snapped. | |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 10-game point streak snapped. Was able to touch the puck much less than usual, especially in the last half of the first when Medicine Hat built their 3-0 lead. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Tigers | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 27-17-2-1 (.606) |
33-15-2 (.680) |
| Goals/game | 4.0 |
4.3 |
| Goals allowed/game | 4.1 |
3.0 |
| Team shooting % | .114 |
.123 |
| Team save % | .882 |
.883 |
| Power play | 27.1% |
28.3% |
| Penalty kill | 76.2% |
79.4% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.2 | 3.7 |
| Power plays against/game |
3.7 |
4.0 |
| Outshooting opponents | 20-25-2 |
35-13-2 |
| After 1 period | 14-20-13 |
26-11-13 |
| After 2 periods | 18-23-6 |
26-17-7 |
| Score, last 10 games | 43-45 (-2) |
55-18 (+37) |
| Score, last 20 games | 87-82 (+5) |
95-45 (+50) |
The Portland Winterhawks
Despite the score, it wasn’t their worst game. Losing to the group would be a disgrace. The Victoria Royals, who are just three points ahead of them, will play the important game at home on Saturday. Because Victoria is now leading the division, it doesn’t matter if Portland wins the first round, but it might matter in subsequent rounds.
Tigers of Medicine Hat
They should be favored against the Seattle Thunderbirds in their final game of the trip. Despite being nine points behind the Everett Silvertips for first overall, they are likely now favorites to win the league. Given how strong this Tigers team appears to be, you would believe that Everett would simply have home ice advantage.
Next games
Victoria on Saturday, 2/1, at 6 p.m. PST
Vancouver, Friday, February 7, 7 p.m. PST
Seattle on Saturday, 2/8, at 6 p.m. PST
Looking ahead: Everett, Friday, 2/21, 7 p.m. PST
The finals are Medicine Hat’s next match.
