Prince Albert, Sask.- For the first time in over a decade, the Medicine Hat Tigers have advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship Series.
Led by WHL Player of the Year finalist Gavin McKenna, the Tigers completed a second-round sweep of the Prince Albert Raiders with a 3-0 win on Thursday night.
Nashville Predators prosect Tanner Molendyk scored the series-clinching goal with a sharp shot from the point on a second-period powerplay, while Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt and Florida Panthers prospect Hunter St. Martin rounded out the scoring.
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Harrison Meneghin picked up his second shutout of the playoffs with a 16-save effort, while WHL Player of the Year finalist Max Hildebrand made a whopping 54 stops at the other end.
Wiesblatt paced the Central Division champions with seven points (3G-4A) in the second round, while McKenna added six points (4G-2A), highlighted by a pair of Goal of the Year candidates in Games 2 and 3.
The Whitehorse, Yukon product has points in 49 straight games dating back to November of 2024.
Netminders Harrison Meneghin and Jordan Switzer split their duties in Round Two, with Meneghin going 2-0-0-0 with a .50 goals-against average and a .975 save percentage, while rookie Switzer stood tall on home ice with a 2-0-0-0 record, a 3.73 goals-against average and an .834 save percentage.
Medicine Hat last reached the Eastern Conference Championship in the 2014 WHL Playoffs, which saw the Tabbies fall in five games to the eventual champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
The Tigers await the winner of the Calgary Hitmen/Lethbridge Hurricanes series.
