WHL PLAYOFFS
Tigers begin playoff quest with romp of Wheat Kings
It took 239 regular season games for Clayton Kirichenko to finally get his chance in the WHL playoffs, but it was undoubtedly worth the wait.
The Medicine Hat Tigers captain scored twice and added an assist to lead his team to a 7-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals, Friday night at the Canalta Centre.
“It’s definitely unforgettable. It’s something I’ll hang onto forever,” said Kirichenko. “I’m really proud of this group. We had a game plan going in and I think we stuck to it and executed.”
Kirichenko only needed seven minutes to put his stamp on the post-season, ripping a shot past Wheaties netminder Logan Thompson to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t give up. It was the first playoff goal ever scored in the Canalta Centre, and the first career playoff point for Kirichenko, John Dahlstrom and Kristians Rubins — who assisted on the opening salvo.
“He really led the charge for us tonight,” Tigers defenceman David Quenneville, who had three assists, said of his captain’s effort. “He’s our leader and really showed right off the bat and throughout the game how important he is to this team.”
Matt Bradley tacked on with a power play goal late in the first period, capping off a lopsided frame by firing a rebound past Thompson with Wheat Kings forward Reid Duke in the box for hooking.
The Tabbies carried the pace into the middle frame, and when another power play opportunity presented itself, Mark Rassell made good with his first of three on the night to leave Brandon on their heels.
The Wheat Kings found some life a few minutes later when Stelio Mattheos beat Tigers goaltender Michael Bullion over the glove, but the marker was almost immediately answered by Zach Fischer — cashing in for Medicine Hat’s third power play goal on just the fourth attempt.
“The whole year, if you put us on the power play we’re usually going to make you pay,” said Quenneville. “I think they did a good job by taking a few guys to the box on coincidentals but we just continued to be resilient through it.”
The Tabbies ended up in some penalty trouble of their own a few minutes later, with Chad Butcher and Rubins landing in the box to leave Medicine Hat on a 4-on3. While Tyler Coulter made the Tigers pay for the infractions with the first of his postseason, Kirichenko stepped up with an answer to give Medicine Hat the momentum after 40 minutes.
“We had some decent shifts at even strength. I just thought, obviously, penalties were an issue. We had to overuse guys as a result and we really strained guys,” said Wheat Kings head coach David Anning. “We’re going to have to play a little bit faster. We’re going to have to clean up some areas of our game and make sure we respond.”
The Tigers continued their special teams surge midway through the third period. After killing off one of their own penalties by playing keep-away on a delayed call, the Tigers earned an extended 5-on-3 and Rassell brought the crowd of to its feet with his second of the evening before completing the hat trick in the final minute to secure a 1-0 lead in the series.
“At the end of the day we probably didn’t need it but it was good for my confidence to get that hat trick,” said Rassell. “They’re probably pretty upset with themselves, giving us nine power plays. We have the second best power play in the league and we went to work tonight. Both units were playing really well on the power play and we’ve got to continue that into Game 2.”
Bullion turned aside 26 pucks for his first career playoff win, including 11 in a scoreless third period, while Thompson finished the with a 45-save loss for Brandon.
“I thought the guys played real well tonight,” said Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston. “The game was a lot closer than the score. It was 5-2 and they were pressing, they just about came up with a third goal and that would have made it a lot different.”
The Wheat Kings and Tigers continue the Eastern Conference quarter-finals with Game 2 Saturday night at the Canalta Centre. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.