Addison OT hero in opener
Game 2 goes tonight at Enmax Centre
It took a little bit of extra time, but the Lethbridge Hurricanes have struck first against the Calgary Hitmen. Canes defenceman Calen Addison scored 5:43 into overtime as the Hurricanes downed the Hitmen 3-2 in Game 1 of their Western Hockey League opening round series Friday night at the Enmax Centre.
The overtime goal was briefly under video review on a possible hand pass before being ruled a good goal to give Lethbridge the early 1-0 lead in the bestof-seven series.
It was the key one that counted after Canes forward Taylor Ross’ go-ahead goal at the end of the second was waved off for goaltender interference, much to the chagrin of the crowd.
But after a scoreless third period Addison rendered the earlier waved-off goal moot with his shot from the point that got past Hitmen goaltender Jack McNaughton in overtime.
“The puck just kind of popped out to me and I just grabbed it,” said Addison. “I saw I had a little bit of time, so I kept walking, waiting until I could freeze the guy and I shot it. It was an unbelievable screen and that’s something we were talking about, getting guys in front of their goalie’s eyes and I think that was the key to that goal, for sure. We’re just happy to get the win.”
After a cautious first period the Hitmen struck late in the opening period as leading scorer Mark Kastelic got his stick on a point shot from Egor Zamula for a 1-0 Calgary lead .
The Hurricanes briefly pulled even 1:35 into the second when Nick Henry took a feed from Jordy Bellerive and fired a shot past McNaughton to make it 1-1.
But Calgary pulled ahead 1:58 later when Devan Klassen broke in off the left wing on an odd-man rush and snuck a shot past Canes goaltender Carl Tetachuk to restore the visitor’s lead.
Tetachuk did his part to keep it 2-1 midway through the second, making a pair of close-in stops on Kastelic without his stick to keep it a one-goal game. On the ensuing faceoff he came up with another close-in save off Riley Stotts.
The Hurricanes tied it a little under two minutes later when Dylan Cozens followed up on a rush and was the recipient of a loose puck that banked off a Hitmen defenceman, hammering the chance past McNaughton to make it 2-2 .
The Canes thought they had the go-ahead goal in the final minute of the second when Ross finished off a chance. But the goal was waved off due to goaltender contact, a call not popular from the crowd of 3,566 as the teams skated into the second intermission tied at 2-2.
“It’s a fast game, stuff happens,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio of the waved-off goal. “It’s easy to look back on the replay and say the guy didn’t touch him. It’s a fast game.”
Addison’s OT winner made everyone forget about it.
“We had lots of opportunities to shoot more pucks tonight and he did, too,” said Kisio. “I thought we were trying to beat an extra guy for some reason instead of just funnelling pucks. That’s what I thought Calgary did well, they shot a lot of pucks at the net and there was always a puck around Tetachuk in front of the net. It’s probably something we can take from them and do better.”
The Canes and Hitmen rang up 33 shots each a Tetachuk made 31 saves and McNaughton had 30.
“I can’t say enough about that guy,” said Addison of Tetachuk, who took over the starter’s role in January. “We’re so proud of that guy and getting pushed into a starting role as a rookie goaltender in this league is crazy that not a lot of goalies can do and he’s taken that role and run with it.”
Game 2 is tonight at 7 at the Enmax Centre as the hosts look for a better effort despite the OT win.
“I thought we were OK,” said Kisio. “I don’t know if we were nervous or tentative. Give Calgary lot of credit, Calgary played hard. I thought both goalies were good. I’m sure they think they can be better and I know we can be better. I thought Calgary played hard and we found a way.”