Tigers’ McKenna sinks Blades with three-point night

Former Saskatoon players combine on Medicine Hat winner

Gavin McKenna had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

Gavin McKenna ensured a mini slump experienced by his Medicine Hat Tigers didn’t last long.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers went into their WHL regular season clash with the host Saskatoon Blades having posted one regulation loss, one overtime setback and one shootout defeat in their last three games. Against the Blades, McKenna came through with one goal and two assists in helping his Tigers come away with a 5-3 victory before a mostly disappointed gathering of 3,754 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

The win allowed the Tigers to improve to 34-16-3-1 and continue to hold a slim lead for first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. They hold a one point edge over the Calgary Hitmen (33-13-3-2), but the Hitmen have three games in hand on the Medicine Hat side.

Gavin McKenna is tied for the WHL scoring lead with 95 points.

While McKenna, who is the Tigers superstar left-winger, had the night’s biggest performance, former Blades members in star defenceman Tanner Molendyk and defensive centre Misha Volotovskii came through with a highlight moment for the Tigers playing their first game against their former club. Molendyk and Volotovskii were dealt by the Blades to the Tigers in a blockbuster trade on January 6.

Just 24 seconds after the Blades scored to force a 3-3 tie in the contest in the third period, Volotovskii tipped home a point shot from Molendyk to put the Tigers up 4-3 with 6:54 remaining in the frame. Volotovskii’s tally held up to win the game.

Gavin McKenna had a key third period goal for the Tigers.

Also having a big night was Blades netminder and former Tigers member Ethan McCallum. McCallum made 38 saves to keep the Blades in the game. Had he not made a number of big saves in net for the Blades, the score of Tuesday’s contest could have been a lot worse with Medicine Hat holding a 43-18 edge in shots on goal.

McCallum was being backed up by associate player call up in 16-year-old Ryley Budd, who is playing regularly for the Edge School Under-18 Prep team in Calgary. Blades star netminder Evan Gardner is out day to day with a lower body injury.

While McCallum was doing his best to keep the Blades in the game, McKenna came through with offence in timely moments to give the Tigers a boost. Just 4:35 into the opening frame, McKenna fired a backhander on net that rebounded to the left side of the Saskatoon goal to Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie quickly popped the rebound into the Saskatoon net to put the Tigers up 1-0.

Ryder Ritchie had the Tigers first goal on Tuesday.

Following that tally, the Tigers proceeded to fire all sorts of shots at the Saskatoon net, but McCallum stood tall to prevent the visitors from pulling away with the game early. That allowed the Blades to get some traction.

With 4:04 remaining in the first, the Blades broke into the Medicine Hat zone on a two-on-one break. Blades breakout 16-year-old rookie centre Cooper Williams broke down the left wing with the puck and slipped a pass across of the face of the Medicine Hat net to right-winger Hunter Laing. Laing potted a backhanded backdoor tap to even the score at 1-1. Import 17-year-old rookie left-winger David Lewandowski started the breakout with a backhanded pass between his legs.

Ethan McCallum stopped 38 shots in goal for the Blades.

Just 41 seconds in the second, Blades sophomore centre Hayden Harsanyi, who came to Saskatoon in the trade for Molendyk and Volotovskii, broke down the right wing into the Medicine Hat zone on a three-on-one rush. Harsanyi, who was playing his former Tigers team for the first time since being traded, got in close and sniped a shot low into the left side of the Medicine Hat net to give the Blades a 2-1 lead.

Just 2:18 later, Tigers 16-year-old left-winger Markus Ruck broke into the Saskatoon zone down the left wing, fired a shot on goal that was stopped, gathered the rebound behind the icing line and deflected the puck in off McCallum to even the score at 2-2.

Hunter Laing, right, taps home the Blades first goal.

That set the state for McKenna come through again for the Tigers as they went ahead 3-2 with 4:37 remaining in the second. With a faceoff in the offensive zone to the left of the Blades net, McKenna was positioned on the top of the faceoff circle to get off a quick shot on a clean draw win on a set play the Tigers have used for at least two decades.

Tigers 20-year-old captain Oasiz Wiesblatt won the draw back to McKenna at the top of the faceoff circle only for Blades solid 20-year-old defenceman and captain Ben Saunderson to get up on McKenna to cut off the shooting lane. McKenna stayed calm and put a smart pass out to Wiesblatt, who was left all alone at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Wiesblatt put home a backhand shot between McCallum’s legs to give the Tigers their one-goal edge.

Hayden Harsanyi had the Blades second goal on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat proceeded to keep the pressure up on the host side, but the Blades again found a traction moment working on a power play in the third period. With 7:18 remaining in the third period, Blades 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott had the puck at the left side of the Medicine Hat net.

Scott made a pass across the front of the Medicine Hat goal to 19-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert at the right side of the net. Calvert one-timed home his 20^th goal of the season and 15^th on the power play to even the score at 3-3.

That set the stage for Volotovskii to score the winner for the Tigers just 24 seconds later deflecting in Molendyk’s point shot.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Markus Ruck (#26).

McKenna proceeded to come through with a dagger goal with 4:38 remaining in the third that sealed the victory. The 17-year-old collected the rebound at the left side of the Blades net off a rebound from a shot taken by Wiesblatt.

From a bad angle, McKenna put home an elite level shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net for his 29^th goal of the season that rounded out the 5-3 score in favour of the visitors.

Harrison Meneghin stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers.

The Blades fell to 27-17-3-3 to remain second in the WHL’s East Division. They have the same amount of standings points as the first place Prince Albert Raiders (28-17-3-1) at 60, but the Raiders hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins. Prince Albert also has a game in hand on Saskatoon.

The Brandon Wheat Kings (26-16-4-3) sit one standing point back of both the Raiders and Blades.

The Tigers return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Tigers celebrate their win on Tuesday.

The Blades get back at it on Friday when they host the 33-13-3-2 Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Sasktel Centre).

With his three-point night, McKenna now has 95 points on the season coming off 29 goals and 66 assists. He is tied for the lead in the WHL’s scoring race with Spokane Chiefs right-winger Andrew Cristall, who recently turned 20-years-old. Cristall has his 95 points coming from 35 goals and 60 assists.

Still, McKenna could have had an even bigger night on Tuesday as he had nine shots on goal that included at least three golden scoring chances he was robbed on. Even at his young age, McKenna showed once again that he is truly one of the WHL’s elite players and a total treat to watch.

Blades salute Molendyk, Volotovskii and Desjardins

Tigers D Tanner Molendyk, left, with Blades GM Colin Priestner.

Tanner Molendyk and Misha Volotovskii were part of a number of big moments over the last four years for the Saskatoon Blades, and it was fitting they got a homecoming.

On Tuesday, Molendyk, who recently turned 20-years-old, and Volotovskii, who is 19-years-old, returned to the SaskTel Centre for the first time as members of the Medicine Hat Tigers. The two were dealt by the Blades to the Tigers in a blockbuster trade on January 6.

During a pre-game ceremony, the Blades made a presentation to Molendyk, who is a star defenceman and signed NHL entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. Blades general manager Colin Priestner gave Molendyk a set of golf clubs, and the Blades announced their team award for the club’s top defenceman will be named after Molendyk. The presentation also included a tribute video.

At the game’s first media timeout in the first period, the Blades paid tribute to Volotovskii, who is a sound defensive centre. They showed a tribute video for Volotovskii that drew big cheers from the 3,754 spectators in attendance. Volotovskii was on the Tigers bench at that time and make sure to get up and give a wave to the crowd.

Tanner Molendyk played 210 regular season games for the Blades.

Molendyk played in 210 career regular season games for the Blades starting in the 2020-21 campaign collecting 26 goals and 108 assists. Volotovskii suited up in 195 career regular season contests for the Blades starting in the 2021-22 campaign recording 19 goals and 16 assists.

The Blades also gave a salute to Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins for picking up his 500^th career regular season win as a WHL head coach back on January 10, when the Tigers downed the Red Deer Rebels 8-1 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Desjardins served as the Blades head coach as a mid-season replacement in the 1997-98 campaign.

As a player, he was a University of Saskatchewan Men’s Hockey Team legend and was captain of the 1982-83 Huskies squad that won the Canada West Conference and U Sports national championships. Desjardins, who was a forward, was the MVP of the 1983 U Sports National Championship Tournament. In the event’s championship game, the Huskies downed the Concordia University Stingers 6-2 to capture what is now known as the David Johnston University Cup.

Misha Volotovskii played 195 regular season games with the Blades.

The Blades also passed on a birthday greeting as Desjardins turned 68-years-old on Tuesday. The Tigers came away with a 5-3 victory over the Blades, which was the 510^th career regular season victory for Desjardins as a WHL head coach and his 500^th career regular season win as the head coach of the Tigers.

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