RASSELL DAZZLES AGAINST HITMEN
Calgary native scores hat trick in Tigers’ romp
They had the quick start they wanted against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Calgary Hitmen, not much else went right as they dropped a 7-2 decision to the Tigers in front of 6,560 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Even more bad news for the Hitmen (19-26-9) was that the Saskatoon Blades (22-26-6) beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-2 at home earlier on Friday. Calgary now trails Saskatoon by three points for the final WHL Eastern Conference wild-card playoff berth.
Jaydan Gordon and Tristen Nielsen staked the Hitmen to an early 2-0 lead over the Tigers, who then stormed back to win their third straight game and for the eighth time in their past nine contests.
Mark Rassell returned to his hometown and recorded his first WHL hat trick to lead the Tigers (39-16-1) to their fifth straight win over the Hitmen this season.
Calgary will have one more chance to beat Medicine Hat when the two teams face each other for the final time on Feb. 24 at the ’Dome.
Jordan Henderson and Clayton Kirichenko had a goal and an assist each for Medicine Hat, while Zach Fischer and Matthew Bradley also scored. Max Gerlach chipped in with three assists for the Tigers, who converted four of their five power-play opportunities.
Goalie Nick Schneider, a Calgary Flames’ prospect, made 19 saves in the Medicine Hat net to improve his record to 29-10-1. Dating back to last season, Schneider has backstopped the Tigers to eight straight wins over the Hitmen.
Trevor Martin started in net for Calgary, but was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 16 shots. Kyle Dumba went on to make 10 saves in a relief appearance.
Gordon and Nielsen scored goals 66 seconds apart early in the first period to give the Hitmen a quick 2-0 lead.
Gordon snapped out of a 70game goalless drought at 1:45 when he blasted a rebound past Schneider, who kicked Andrew Fyten’s initial shot right out to the slot.
Nielsen then scored his second goal in his past four games when he shovelled a loose puck in the slot past Schneider. Defenceman Jakob LaPointe took the initial shot from the point that hit a Medicine Hat player before bouncing right to Nielsen.
The Tigers then struck back with a pair of power-play goals by Rassell at 6:16 and 13:23. Rassell chipped a rebound up and over Martin’s left arm for his first goal of the game before skating in on left wing and snapping a shot to the top corner past the Hitmen goalie for his second.
Medicine Hat went up 3-2 at 5:53 of the second period when Martin misplayed a dump-in from the neutral zone by Henderson. After Martin failed to get a glove on the puck, it trickled into the net behind him to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.
That prompted Hitmen head coach Mark French to make a goaltending switch. Dumba didn’t fare much better as Fischer snapped a shot into the top corner over his right shoulder for Medicine Hat’s third power-play goal of the game at 10:19.
Rassell then completed his hat trick at 6:03 of the final frame before Bradley and Kirichenko rounded out the scoring.
The Hitmen will wrap up their
three-game homestand on Saturday (7 p.m., Sportsnet 960 The Fan) when they host the Swift Current Broncos. They’ll then head north for an afternoon affair on Sunday (4 p.m.) in Edmonton against the Oil Kings.
ICE CHIPS: Before Friday, Gordon had scored just one goal in his WHL career, back on Feb. 12, 2016, when he was playing for the Swift Current Broncos, who had dropped a 6-4 road decision to the Moose Jaw Warriors. … Nielsen snapped out of a 29-game goalless drought of his own on Feb. 3 during a 4-3 overtime win on the road for the Hitmen over the Vancouver Giants. After scoring one goal in three games last season as a 15-year-old, Nielson has two goals in 33 appearances during his rookie WHL campaign.