Hitmen start 2020 by topping division rival
Captain says Calgary’s 4-2 win over Medicine Hat ‘great for our confidence’
A less-than-ideal start to the new decade didn’t deter the Calgary Hitmen from skating to their second straight win over a divisional opponent.
After downing the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-3 at home on Monday, the Hitmen (18-11-5) followed up with a 4-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers in front of 6,514 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome on New Year’s Day.
“That’s great for our confidence,” said Hitmen captain Mark Kastelic. “Now we’re just starting to get everybody back (from injuries). With a full healthy lineup, we believe in ourselves and we know that we can play with any team in the league, so it’s just good to get those wins against divisional opponents and those points, too, are big for the standings.”
Despite giving up a goal to Lukas Svejkovsky 10 seconds into
Wednesday’s game, goalie Jack Mcnaughton went on to make 32 saves to help the Hitmen earn their third win in four tries over the Tigers this season.
“It’s almost like an eye opener, just to sort of dial it in a little bit more and get zoned in a little bit more and be ready for anything,” said Mcnaughton of surrendering the early breakaway goal to Svejkovsky.
“It’s not the way you want to start, but the boys rallied,” said Kastelic, who scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period. “We got our feet under us in the first and it kind of just went up from there. The second period was back and forth, but then we took it to them in the third. We got a lot of contributions again from up and down the lineup, so that’s all you can really ask for.”
Kastelic nearly got the Hitmen on the board early in the second period with a lacrosse-style goal when he scooped the puck up on the blade of his stick and flicked it on net.
“I practised it a couple times yesterday,” Kastelic said. “I was so close, but maybe I’ll try again sometime soon.”
Hitmen coach Steve Hamilton was surprised to see his captain try to duplicate the move Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes
has pulled off twice this season.
“I didn’t know that he had that in the repertoire, but it’s a bold game now,” Hamilton said. “Guys see those things and if they have it in the tool box to give it a try, I have no problem with it.”
Jonas Peterek swatted a goalmouth scramble into the Medicine Hat net for the lone goal of the second period before Hunter Campbell pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot through goalie Mads Sogaard’s legs to give the Hitmen a 2-1 lead 5:13 into the third.
After Ryan Chyzowski drew the Tigers even with a power-play goal, Kastelic scored during a two-man advantage for the Hitmen at 10:11 of the final frame.
“We got the 5-on-3 goal, but we basically took a lot of the wind out of their sails and pressed on them a bit and then scored shortly after,” said Hamilton, referring to an insurance goal by rookie Sean Tschigerl with 6:05 remaining on the clock.
The Tigers pushed hard with Sogaard on the bench for an extra attacker in the final 3:20 of the game, but were continually denied by Mcnaughton, who won his second straight decision to improve his record to 13-3-2.
“I looked down there and I saw there was over three minutes left and I thought it was a bit early,” Mcnaughton said. “The guys made it really easy for me in those last few minutes. They were just blocking shots and keeping guys out of the shooting lanes so I could see the puck.”
Sitting solidly in the first wildcard spot in the WHL’S Eastern Conference, the Hitmen have their sights set on catching up to the Oil Kings (25-7-7), Lethbridge Hurricanes (23-10-5) and Tigers (23-11-2) in the Central Division standings.
“It’s nice to get those divisional points as well to show that we’re capable of playing in this division and we’re not just one of those teams that’s down in a wild-card spot because we’re not capable of playing with them,” Mcnaughton said.
After travelling to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers in a rematch on Friday, the Hitmen will face the Hurricanes in Lethbridge the next night before returning home to the Dome to host the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sunday afternoon (4 p.m.).
We got a lot of contributions again from up and down the lineup, so that’s all you can really ask for.