Rookie D-men lift Hitmen over Brandon
Led by a pair of rookie defenceman, the Calgary Hitmen skated to a 4-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Thursday.
Travis Sanheim scored once and set up another, while Ben Thomas notched the game-winning goal as the Hitmen (25-8-5) collected their third straight victory in front of 6,815 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“Obviously to get the first one and then to get the assist on top of it, it felt pretty good,” said Sanheim, who recorded the first multiple-point game of his rookie season with the Hitmen. “I just think we’re a lot more comfortable in the league. We’re getting used to it and it’s starting to pay off.”
Thomas, who has been paired as Sanheim’s defence partner for most of the season, agreed.
“Now we’re into the second half,” Thomas said. “Everyone’s kind of over the jitters of it being your first year in the league. All the rookies are comfortable now and we’re all playing well.”
Jake Virtanen had an empty-net goal and two assists for the Hitmen, while Chase Lang also scored.
Hitmen goalie Chris Driedger stopped 23 of 24 shots he faced to improve his record to 16-7-5.
Peter Quenneville scored the lone goal of the game for the Wheat Kings (20-16-4), who finished up their fourgame road trip with a 1-2-1 record. Brandon goalie Curtis Honey made 31 saves in a losing cause.
The Wheat Kings came out hitting as Brandon defenceman Ryan Pulock knocked Virtanen to the ice with a big hit at the blueline early in the game.
With Brandon’s Jayce Hawryluk serving a penalty for goalie interference, Sanheim opened the scoring at 5:31 of the first when his wrist shot from the point found the back of the net behind Honey, who was screened in front by Kenton Helgesen.
“Virts just chipped it up the wall to me at the point,” Sanheim said. “I just walked the blueline and found a lane to shoot the puck and I guess it found its way into the net.”
Quintin Lisoway had a shorthanded breakaway early in the second, but the Brandon forward shot the puck high and wide. During the same Hitmen power play, Driedger had to be sharp to turn aside a shot fired his way by Lisoway.
The Wheat Kings tied the game 1-1 at 15:45 of the second with a power play marker. Driedger made the initial save on a booming slap shot from the point by Pulock, but the puck bounced right to Quenneville for an easy tap-in goal.
The Hitmen then pressed hard to regain their one-goal lead and were rewarded at the 18:41 mark of the middle frame when Thomas took a pass from Sanheim and wired a shot from the point past Honey.
“I saw that we had two guys in front of their goalie so I knew that he wouldn’t be able to see it very well and I just got a shot on net and it just kind of went through the screen,” Thomas said.
With Calgary looking to extend its lead, defenceman Alex Roach rang a shot off the post behind Honey early in the final frame.
The Hitmen got the insurance goal they were looking for at 11:02 of the third when Lang tipped a point shot by Roach past Honey.
The Hitmen will finish up their five-game homestand this weekend when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday (7 p.m.) and the Seattle Thunderbirds on Sunday (4 p.m.)