Hitmen hit the road on high note
The Calgary Hitmen gave their fans a lot to cheer about during a 10-2 drubbing of the Seattle Thunderbirds on Sunday.
Afterwards, the players took to the ice for an up-close meet and greet with their supporters during the annual Dodge Skate with the Hitmen event.
“It’s the last game before road trip and you want to leave something nice for fans,” said Hitmen forward Pavel Padakin, who had a goal and an assist in front of an announced crowd of 7,598 people at the Saddledome. “Next time, when we come back, I hope we’ll have more and more fans.”
Winners of five straight at home, the Hitmen (27-8-5) will now hit the road for games against the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday, the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday and the Regina Pats on Friday.
The Hitmen, who also thumped the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-3 on Saturday, will look to extend their winning streak at the ’Dome to 13 straight games next Sunday when they’ll face a tough test against the WHL-leading Kelowna Rockets.
“We’re just prepared for every game,” said Hitmen defenceman Alex Roach, who scored once, set up two others and finished with a plus-five rating against the T-Birds. “Everyone’s buying into our system right now and that’s what good teams do. Right now we’ve got to keep it going and try to keep it rolling as well.”
Hitmen coach Mike Williamson praised Roach for his recent great play and leadership, especially with captain Jaynen Rissling out of the lineup with a lower-body injury.
“I think the last three or four games have been Alex’s best since he’s been back,” Williamson said.
Roach began the season with the Ontario Reign, the ECHL farm team of the Los Angeles Kings, who signed the 6-foot-4, 228-pound blueliner to a three-year, entry-level contract in September of 2011.
“He was challenged quite a bit and had to step up,” said Williamson of Roach, who was named the game’s first star on Sunday. “He’s shouldered the responsibility, really stepped up for us and he’s just been great.”
Jake Virtanen also had a goal and two assists for the Hitmen, while Pavel Padakin, Kenton Helgesen and Joe Mahon contributed to the onslaught with a goal and an assist each.
Chase Lang, Greg Chase, Brady Brassart, Zane Jones and Travis Sanheim also scored, while Elliott Peterson chipped in with two assists. Goalie Chris Driedger made 26 saves to record the win.
Ryan Gropp and Calvin Spencer scored for the Thunderbirds (2214-5), who had a rough weekend in Alberta as they also dropped a 7-0 decision in Edmonton to the Oil Kings one night earlier. The T-Birds have now lost five straight games.
Danny Mumaugh started in net for the T-Birds, but was pulled at 16:58 of the second period after giving up five goals on 15 shots. Justin Myles then made 12 saves in a relief appearance.
With Peterson providing a great screen in front, Roach opened the scoring at 9:45 of the first period with a wrist shot from the point.
Lang and Helgesen then scored goals 52 seconds apart late in the opening frame to put the Hitmen up 3-0.
At 15:06 of the second, Padakin scored his third short-handed goal of the season when he stole the puck from Jared Hauf at the Hitmen blueline before skating the length of the ice and shovelling a shot through Mumaugh’s legs.
“It was nothing special,” Padakin said before adding, “It was an important goal for us. After this, the goals started to go in more and more.”
Following Chase’s goal, Gropp scored during a Seattle power play to end Driedger’s shutout bid.
The Hitmen continued to pour on the pressure in the third as Jones, Sanheim, Brassart, Virtanen and Mahon got in on the action by finding the back of the net behind Myles.
“You don’t come into games expecting to score 10 goals,” Roach said. “You always expect a hardfought battle. We got a little bit lucky tonight with some goals, but we deserved most of them with hard work.”
Spencer added a late goal in the final frame for the T-Birds to round out the scoring.