Kamloops loses 5-4 to Medicine Hat

Dec 5, 2015 | 10:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Blazers (12-10-3-1) suffered their first home ice regulation loss since October 23 as they fell 5-4 to the Medicine Hat Tigers (8-16-2-1) on Saturday night.

The Tigers opened the scoring on a power play off a shot from Cole Sanford. He snapped the puck past goaltender Connor Ingram under the glove for a 1-0 Tigers lead 6:38 into the game. 

Max Gerlach gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead on a great tip 8:08 into the period. He got a piece of a shot from David Quenneville that went off the post and in. 

The Blazers put together a couple of good shifts in the late stages of the period and were rewarded with a goal. 

Dallas Valentine’s point shot was deflected byMatt Needham and hit Jermaine Loewen before entering the net for the Blazers first goal of the game with 25.6 seconds left in the period. 

For Loewen, it was his third goal of the season and also the Teddy Bear goal, as the bears came raining down from the stands. 

The Blazers started to gain some momentum in the second period. 

Gage Quinney made a terrific individual effort on the penalty kill and fed an open Deven Sideroff for a goal to tie the game up at 2-2 just over five minutes into the second frame. 

Sideroff gave the Blazers the lead on a power play with seven and a half minutes left in the period. 

Matt Needham worked hard to recover a puck andCollin Shirley fed Sideroff for the open net and a 3-2 Blazers lead. 

The Tigers picked up the pace in the final few minutes of the second period.

Max Gerlach took a pass from Mason Shaw and snapped home his second of the game to tie the game at 3-3 with just over two minutes left in the period. 

Mark Rassell then gave the Tigers the lead on an odd man rush with 1:09 to play and the Tigers held a 4-3 lead going into the third period. 

Rassell made it 5-3 for the Tigers on another rush early in the third period. 

The Blazers battled back in the final 10 minutes of the period. 

Collin Shirley scored a power play goal with 5:31to play to cut the Tigers lead to 5-4. 

The Blazers had pressure and a power play in the late stages of the game, but did not score as they lost 5-4 on home ice. 

The Blazers were 2-for-8 on the power play, while the Tigers finished 1-for-7. 

The Blazers are on the road for the next six games from December 11 until December 19. The Blazers are back at home on December 27 against the Kelowna Rockets.