Tigers maul Oil Kings 5-0 to take 2-1 series lead
Brett Kemp was having a career year with the Edmonton Oil Kings, so it came as a slight surprise when he was traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers in January.
Kemp, who turned 19 on Saturday, was sent to Medicine Hat in exchange for forward Josh Williams, 18, in a move that’s proving beneficial for both sides.
Kemp was on the winning side Tuesday as the Oil Kings lost 5-0 to the Tigers in Game 3 of their first-round WHL playoff series. With the win, the Tigers took a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 on Wednesday in Medicine Hat.
Cole Sillinger, James Hamblin, Elijah Brown, Ryan Chyzowski and Hayden Ostir scored for Medicine Hat, while goaltender Mads Sogaard made 21 saves.
Dylan Myskiw gave up four goals on 21 shots before giving way to Todd Scott, who gave up a goal on the first shot he faced and finished with 10 saves.
“I didn’t know anything about the trade until I was told about it,” Kemp said. “It was a little bit shocking, but I knew I was coming into a good organization and it worked out well.”
A second-round draft pick of the Everett Silvertips in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft, Kemp was acquired by the Oil Kings in January 2017 for defenceman Aaron Irving, which set off Edmonton’s rebuild.
Kemp had 11 goals and 21 points in 24 games for the Oil Kings before being traded to Medicine Hat. He went on to score 22 goals and collect 39 points in 40 games for the Tigers during the regular season.
“There were lots of things we liked about him,” Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston said. “We liked his offence, he plays with his head up and has a feel for the puck around the net. We really like him and he’s fit in well.”
The Tigers gave up an NHL prospect in Williams to acquire Kemp, who went into Game 3 with a goal and an assist in the first two games of the series. Kemp is playing on the Tigers’ top line alongside Chyzowski and left winger Ryan Jevne.
“It’s been unbelievable. I came in and am fitting in with two great players. They make my game a lot easier,” Kemp said. “It’s a very easy transition, everyone was very welcoming. I think I’ve probably played a little more in Medicine Hat than I played in Edmonton. That’s good for my development and I’ve gained a lot of confidence playing more minutes and it’s helping out a lot.”
Having been with the Oil Kings the past two seasons, Kemp had not played a WHL playoff game until the opening game of the series Saturday. The Oil Kings had missed the playoffs the previous two seasons after bottoming out and undergoing a rebuild phase.
As fate would have it, Kemp’s first playoff series came against his former team.
“It’s pretty crazy; when I got traded I would have never thought that would happen,” Kemp said. “It’s pretty cool to play against those guys. There are no friends on the ice, obviously. I don’t think you can play with any friends right now. We’re both trying to win and we’re doing everything it takes to win.”
Familiarity breeding contempt would explain the animosity between Kemp and the rest of the Oil Kings through the series so far. As one of the Tigers key offensive threats, Kemp has been targeted for extra physical attention in the series.
“I knew I was going to get hit a lot,” Kemp said. “I felt every time I had the puck, I was going to get hit. That’s part of the game and I just have to work around that.”
Kemp is dishing out as good as he’s receiving, and that is making for an interesting series thus far. The Tigers won Game 1 despite being outshot 50-27 in the contest. Edmonton rebounded with a Game 2 win Sunday, sending the series back to Medicine Hat tied 1-1.
“It was good we’re able to beat them, they were on a pretty good winning streak (11 in a row to end the regular season), so to be able to come in and snap that, it gives our team a lot of confidence that we can play with them and beat them in the series,” Kemp said.
“I think we’ve always known that we can beat them. We have before and we had a lot of close games with them, we just weren’t able to push through, but Game 1 showed a lot.”
The series shifts back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Friday (7 p.m.) at Rogers Place. If necessary, Game 6 is in Medicine Hat on Sunday.
“Brett’s been great, especially down the stretch,” Clouston said.
“That has was big for us. We were dinged up for a little while, went through a tough stretch and when we came out of that we’ve put those guys together on the top line and they’ve been real good.”