MEDICINE HAT, Alta. - One night the Kootenay Ice traded blows with the Medicine Hat Tigers in an 11-goal overtime offence-fest.

The next, the Ice controlled the pace and skated to a 3-0 victory at the Medicine Hat Arena.

Although they each add up to a 2-0 series lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference final, there's no question which win Kootenay head coach Kris Knoblauch preferred.

"(Saturday) was how the Kootenay Ice usually play hockey, when they're successful," he said. "We didn't give up many odd-man rushes, we were a lot more disciplined and more importantly I thought we established a cycle and we protected the puck down low a lot better."

The Ice extended their franchise record playoff win streak to nine games (the previous was seven) and have a chance to sweep on home ice, with Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Cranbrook.

Nathan Lieuwen wasn't as busy Saturday - nor did he have to be as flashy as in Friday's 6-5 victory - but his 25 stops were enough to collect his third shutout of the post season. That matches his regular season tally of clean sheets, establishes a franchise record for most in one playoff and matches Dan Blackburn's career record.

Cody Eakin led the way at the other end, opening scoring then setting up the other two goals. It was his second game winner in a row, having ended Game 1 in overtime (see page 8).

The Ice dominated the opening period Saturday, outshooting the Tigers 17-7 and out-chancing them by about the same margin.

They struck at 3:57 on a rush. Captain Brayden McNabb had nudged the puck forward to Jesse Ismond, and he got it over to Eakin, who wired it in from the left dot.

Ismond replaced the injured Steele Boomer on that line with Kevin King, allowing Eakin to move back to his natural position at centre.

Knoblauch noted the highly-compatible Ismond has played with many linemates this year, and complemented an already speedy unit well.

The coach was especially happy with the play of King, who brought his physicality to bear on the Tigers.

King could well have had a hat trick, but was happy to get the one goal late in the second period.

It all started when Ismond had the puck along the right boards at his own blueline. He centered to a streaking Eakin who beat his cover into the Medicine Hat zone for a breakaway.

"I saw Eaks take off and tried to keep up with him," said King. "He's pretty fast. I tried to give him some support and luckily enough the puck was lying there and I was the next guy in line to bang it in."

So ended King's 11-game playoff scoring drought - a surprising stretch for someone who is coming off a 33-goal regular season and has played well this post-season.

"It just gives me that little extra confidence to go out and get back to my game," he said. "The team has been having success and that's the most important thing for sure, but it's always nice to feel like you can contribute a bit more."

The teams were a combined 0-for-8 on the power play Saturday. The Ice got one advantage when Kellan Tochkin butt-ended Brayden McNabb across the face from the Tigers' bench in the second period.

With just under two minutes left in the game, the Tigers pulled Tyler Bunz (37 saves on 39 shots). A short time later, Eakin set up Joe Antilla with an empty netter to put the game on ice.

CLASSIC ROAD WIN

Saturday represented a successful road game, as the Ice kept most of the 4,006 fans out of it.

The main exception was Section 23, where Kootenay partisans celebrated every goal and initiated chants that the hosts had to respond to.

Defenceman Joey Leach noted that, in addition to playing more physically, the Ice had wanted to quiet the locals who had given the Tigers life in Game 1.

"That was our game plan: to get out there quick, get the first one and keep them quiet and get our fans going in the one corner over there. It was nice to hear them."

Like the rest of their teammates, Tigers Linden Vey and Emerson Etem were kept off the scoresheet Saturday. In Game 1 they accounted for seven points. In Game 2, they were a combined minus-6.

"Every time they get a couple-goal lead on you, they kind of sit back and play with three or four guys back and it's a frustrating style," offered Vey. "We came out flat, and we've got to give them credit. They played a great road game, got up on us early and shut us down the rest of the night."

The Ice held a 2-0 series lead over the Tigers in last year's opening round, but those wins came at home.

Vey said 2010's experience - in which Medicine Hat won the next four games to advance - is something from which his side will try to draw.

"We believe in ourselves. We know we can make a series of it," he said. "We've just got to get back to the things we do well. We're caught playing their style of game, and with our style of game when we're moving our feet, we're a tough team to handle."

Tigers' head coach Shaun Clouston acknowledged his side faces a huge challenge coming back to Cranbrook.

"All we can do is embrace that," he said. "What a great situation: we're one of four teams left. We've overcome lots of adversity during the season, came back from being down in games, came back from being down one game a couple of times to Brandon (in the opening round) and this is the biggest challenge we've faced all year."

Leach said Kootenay is not taking a league championship berth for granted.

"It's only two wins and it takes four to win the series," he said. "We're going back with the same mindset, getting back to Cranbrook knowing we have to play hard and keep doing what we were doing here and keep rolling."

Ismond called the atmosphere in the Ice dressing room 'awesome.'

"We're excited, there's a lot of enthusiasm," he said. "We want to win two more. If we can sweep, we want to sweep. Our objective is to win four games and it's definitely exciting. We're prepared for Games 3 and 4 because we know they're not going to quit."

FAMILIAR GROUND

For the second round in a row, the Kootenay Ice return home with a 2-0 series lead and a chance to sweep their opponent out of the playoffs.

They made it count against the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference semifinal, and they hold the same hammer over the Medicine Hat Tigers in the final.

"The one thing about home ice advantage is controlling the matchups, and I think with our team, lines 1 through 4 are very responsible," said Knoblauch. "If one of our lower lines gets out against their top line, we have confidence that they'll do a good job against them. A lot of teams don't have that confidence, but with six solid defencemen and four solid lines up front, you're able to do that."

AROUND THE HORN

After every away victory, the Ice pile on the bus, where driver John Bean leans on the horn a couple of times. The team responds by chanting: "We came, we saw, we kicked their (something something)," followed by a cheer.

Kootenay collected its sixth consecutive road win on Saturday. Knoblauch isn't worried that the horn might get worn out from all their travel success.

He said lack of use presents a bigger problem.

In early February, the Ice got a win in Regina after which the horn wouldn't stop.

"Ironically, it was during a time where we weren't getting many road victories," said the coach. "It was rusty, and we gave it the honks and the horn froze. We had to shut the bus off to shut it off."

So more is better, in that case.

"It wasn't used enough," said Knoblauch. "As long as we use it lots, everything should be fine."

WILL HISTORY REPEAT

The last time the Ice played in the third round (the 2005 Western Conference final against the Kelowna Rockets), the games in Cranbrook averaged 4,080 spectators through three games (ranging from 3,983 in Game 1 up to 4,194 in Game 2)

As of Thursday, 2,063 and 2,017 seats had been sold for Games 3 and 4 of this year's Eastern final at the Rec Plex. Tickets are available at the Kootenay Ice office, which will remain open through lunch hour.