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Tabby trouble Tuesday

The Kootenay Ice saw a five-game winning streak come to an end Tuesday night, falling to Medicine Hat Tigers in a shootout
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Kootenay Ice

Taylor Rocca

The Kootenay Ice a saw a five-game winning streak come to an end in Medicine Hat as the Tigers needed a shootout to earn a 5-4 victory Tuesday night .

“I thought we deserved two points,” said Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill over the phone from Medicine Hat following Tuesday’s shootout loss. “We had a couple breakdowns that let them back in the game, but for the most part, I thought we had a good work ethic and I thought we survived.”

Despite the loss, the Ice earned one point with the regulation tie, extending a season-high point streak to six games.

After Trevor Cox gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the shootout, Luke Philp needed to score on Tigers goaltender Marek Langhamer to extend the festivities. Skating towards the Tigers crease, Philp got jammed up and couldn’t slide the puck past the outstretched leg of the Czech netminder.

Philp (2G, 2A) and Jaedon Descheneau (1G, 3A) each recorded four-point performances to help pace the offense for the visitors, while Kyle Becker (2G), Trevor Cox (2A) and Tommy Vannelli (2A) each recorded multi-point efforts for the hosts.

Descheneau had an opportunity to earn his second goal of the night when he was awarded a penalty shot in the third period. Skating in on Langhamer, Descheneau sent a wrist shot high over the crossbar.

Starting his 26th consecutive game, Ice goaltender Wyatt Hoflin established a franchise record for consecutive appearances by a goaltender. The previous record of 25 consecutive appearances was set by Todd Mathews (Jan. 21 to March 14, 2009).

“Obviously there’s maybe one goal tonight he might like back and maybe it was a result of being tired because he’s played so much,” McGill said. “Certainly, he’s been very consistent for us. He’s done a great job with making big saves for us at key times.

“I think the break at Christmas was a good thing for him because he’s come back and he’s been very good.”

Hoflin made 26 stops on 30 shots in the loss, while Langhamer turned aside 37 pucks for his 18th win of the season.

A total of 12 power plays were handed out to the two teams by referees Adam Byblow and Kevin Shmyr, with the Tigers seeing eight advantages and the Ice receiving four.

Tyler King scored the lone power-play marker for the Ice in the first period, while Cole Sanford and Kyle Becker responded on the man advantage for the Tigers.

The Ice (20-17-0-1, 41 points) return home from Medicine Hat before venturing back out on the road to start 2015, visiting the Red Deer Rebels (20-13-3-2, 45) Friday before continuing north to face the Edmonton Oil Kings (16-16-3-2, 37) Saturday.