CANES, TIGERS ARE READY

RIVALRY RESUMES IN GAME 1 TONIGHT IN MEDICINE HAT

Hurricanes and Tigers meeting in playoffs first first time since 1991

Call them meaningless games, but the Medicine Hat Tigers are still proud of their home-and-home sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes to close out the regular season.

After dropping eight consecutive games inside the walls of the Enmax Centre, the Tigers closed out the regular season with a resounding 5-1 win over the Canes — snapping a slump that started in 2014 just in time for the first playoff meeting between the teams since 1991.

While the games had no influence on the final standings, Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says that didn’t impact their importance in the dressing room.

“It was probably important, just to believe that we could do it,” said Clouston. “Sometimes there are some mental blocks that come into play so hopefully after that game we know that we can have success there if we play to the best of our abilities.”

For overage forward Steven Owre — who will finally get the chance to expand on the Highway 3 rivalry in the playoffs after spending five years with the Tabbies — ending the frustrating slide in the Windy City was the perfect way to close out their historic 51-win regular season.

“I think that was huge,” he said. “Going into that building their fans are loud and they always come out with a little bit of extra incentive against us. So it was great to get a win in Lethbridge for the first time in a while.”

“It seemed like every time we went to that building, it was just tough for us. They came out flying every time and we really struggled,” added defenceman Ty Schultz. “It was really good to see us win that last game in there.”

This year’s season series between Lethbridge and Medicine Hat fluctuated between defensively wrought battles and full-blown barnburners. But Owre says they don’t plan on straying into end-to-end play with so much on the line.

“I think we can score, but I don’t think anyone ever really wants to get into that shootout type of game,” said Owre. “We really want to make sure that we’re tightening up. They’ve got forwards who can score, too, so we need to tighten up on those guys and take away their time and space.”

Those forwards include the likes of Tyler Wong, Giorgio Estephan and Egor Babenko — who combined for 28 points in their sevengame series victory over the Red Deer Rebels. But much like Medicine Hat, the Hurricanes showcased some serious depth in the first round.

While 10 Tigers hit the back of the net across four games against the Wheaties, the Hurricanes countered with 13 goal-scorers in seven contests. It’s something Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio says will need to continue in order to find success against a team like the Tigers, with potent threats up and down the lineup.

“They’re a team that gets production from everyone. When you’re facing a team like that, you’re going to have to kind of match that as well,” said Kisio.

“We know how big of a challenge this is, especially going into Medicine Hat. We respect and know how good they are. It’s going to be hard.”