Cochrane’s Ethan Neutens and Kaden McCann contributed to the scoring in the Medicine Hat Tigers’ win in the opening game of the WHL championship.
The Tigers limited the Spokane Chiefs to a powerplay goal in a 4–1 win Friday in front of a packed house at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.
Neutens scored the Tigers’ third goal early in the third period, assisted by McCann and Misha Volotovskii.
Spokane outshot the Tigers 37–22, but Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer believes his team’s mistakes cost the young squad.
“It’s one of those games where we kind of kept giving them the puck—especially the second period,” said Lauer, who won the WHL title in 2022. “(It) put us on our heels for a little bit. We did stick around. We did find a way to get to one. We’ve done that all year—we’ve been finding ways to get back in games.”
Spokane went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Medicine Hat was scoreless on two chances with the man advantage.
WHL Player of the Year Gavin McKenna of the Tabbies wove through the offensive zone before sliding the puck to a trailing Pickford, who fired a precision shot from the slot. The assist extended McKenna’s modern CHL-record point streak (regular season and playoffs combined) to 54 games. He added another assist on an empty-net goal late in the third.
Medicine Hat hosts Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Saturday night (May 11). The series shifts to Spokane next week.
The winner advances to the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que., May 22 to Sunday, June 1.