Hitmen hand Oil Kings their first loss
Defending champs played sloppy game with too many turnovers
Friday night was full of firsts at Rexall Place, and the Edmonton Oil Kings were on the wrong end of all of them.
Milestone goals from Pavlo Padakin and Greg Chase provided enough offence for the Calgary Hitmen to take Round 1 in this version of the Western Hockey League’s Battle of Alberta with a 4-1 win.
The loss was Edmonton’s first of these a son, after the defending league champions opened with three straight victories.
“They’re a great team, they came to battle tonight in our barn and we didn’t respond,” Oil Kings forward T.J. Foster said. “We just didn’t engage in any battles and that was the difference.”
Friday was also the first WHL game for defencemen Aaron Irving, who was brought up by the Oil Kings from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Bonnyville Pontiacs. The 16-yearold’s night, however, was highlighted by a pair of penalties, including one that resulted in a Calgary power-play goal.
“We had to have a better effort from our forward group here tonight to try to protect our younger kids on the back end,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal. “At the end of the day, it just wasn’t a great group effort.”
While the Hitmen were happy to escape Rexall Place with a win — Calgary lost all three games in Edmonton by a combined score of 14-4 last season — the game was far from a perfect performance for either team.
“I’ll give Calgary credit, they came in here and outworked us in every aspect of the game,” Laxdal said. “I’ll take the brunt of this one. We had an optional skate yesterday and I should’ve had them out on the ice there ready to prepare and do some better battling drills and get them ready for tonight.”
The Oil Kings opted to take it easy on the players after a long overnight trip home after Wednesday night’s game in Lethbridge.
“That won’t happen again with this group,” Laxdal said. “We’re trying to rest them and energize them a little bit, but sometimes you’ve got to go a little harder and I’ll let this one fall on me.”
Padakin, the 50th overall selection in the Canadian Hockey League import draft, opened the scoring for Calgary with his first career WHL goal early in the first period. The Ukrainian forward went in virtually uncontested before slipping a backhand shot just under the arm of Edmonton goalie Laurent Brossoit after a Stephane Legault giveaway just inside the Oil Kings’ blue-line,
It was not only the first time the Oil Kings have trailed this season, but also opened the floodgates on a turnover-filled period by Edmonton.
The Oil Kings escaped the first period down only one goal because the Hitmen had an equally uninspired effort, and couldn’t make up any ground in the second.
Sherwood Park native Greg Chase’s first career goal at Rexall Place and T.J. Foster’s second of the season for the Oil Kings accounted for the scoring in a marginally better executed period between two of the Eastern Conference favourites.
“I love playing in front of my family and friends. I’m back in my hometown and it’s kind of heartwarming,” Chase said. “It’s a cool experience playing in front of all my friends and family knowing that they’re here. We don’t always get to see them.”
Despite a relatively pedestrian contest, at least one Hitmen forward stood out as Brady Brassart made his presence felt from start to finish.
The pesky winger, who had more than 100 penalty minutes last season for the Hitmen, opened the night with a crosschecking penalty 40 seconds into the contest. His biggest impact was scoring 29 seconds into the third period to end any hopes Edmonton had of a comeback. The Vernon, B.C., product’s goal made it 3-1.
An empty-netter from Carson Samoridny capped the scoring in a period that saw the Oil Kings fail to generate much offence.
Edmonton’s next game is against the Prince Albert Raiders on Thursday at Rexall.