KAMLOOPS — It likely wasn’t the start the Kamloops Blazers were looking for, but it certainly was the finish.
The home team surrendered the opening goal Friday night, as Medicine Hat’s Ryan Jevne picked the top corner short side just 1:20 into the game.
The Blazers responded at 10:51 of the opening frame, as Garrett Pilon scored off an offensive zone face-off to tie things at one.
But before Bill O’Donovan was finished announcing Pilon’s tally, the Tigers had taken the lead, as Cameron McPhee’s seeing-eye point shot eluded Dylan Ferguson, for the Medicine Hat defenseman’s first career WHL goal.
The Tigers would pounce again, less than four minutes after taking the lead. Captain Mark Rassell leapt on a neutral zone turnover and went in alone on Ferguson, beating the Blazer netminder glove side to extend the Tigers lead to two.
Kamloops would narrow that lead to one before the end of the opening frame.
Nick Chyzowski and Brodi Stuart would break in on a two-on-one. Stuart’s pass attempt would hit a stick and bounce to the trailer, Luke Zazula, who backhanded home his first of the year to make it a 3-2 game before the first intermission.
The Blazers kept that momentum rolling into the second period. Jermaine Loewen would score 3:11 into the middle stanza and Kamloops looked to take the lead shortly after when Swiss import Justin Sigrist tipped a high point shot through Jordan Hollett’s pads.
After a brief conference, the refs called it no goal on the ice, pending a review, which did not go in the Blazer’s favour.
It was a moot point, as Blazers captain Nick Chyzowski would score with just three seconds left in the period to give Kamloops the lead.
Pilon would add a pair in the third to complete his hat-trick, as the Blazers battled from behind to defeat the Central Division-leading Tigers by a 6-3 score.
Kamloops has a chance to get out of the BC Division basement Saturday night, as they host the Prince George Cougars at the Sandman Centre. Puck drop for that game is at 7:00 pm.
