Tyler Lowey

Winterhawks wallop Hitmen at home

The Portland Winterhawks came as advertised and blasted the Calgary Hitmen, adding them to the piles of teams they have left in their wake during their current eight-game winning streak.

Two teams headed in very opposite directions continued on similar paths, as the Winterhawks disposed of the Hitmen 7-3 Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Hitmen have dropped their last seven matchups.

The Winterhawks controlled the play from the opening faceoff, as their pressing forecheck restricted the Hitmen to their own end of the ice, as the star-studded roster flexed their muscles early and often in front of the 5,272 fans in attendance.

“Tonight wasn’t good enough, bottom line. We knew Portland was a good team from the start,” said Hitmen Goaltending Coach and former Winterhawk netminder Jason LaBarbera. “On the road trip I thought we did some good things, we just didn’t get the results: we competed hard and grew as a group. I was excited to see how we were on home ice against a really good team, but that wasn’t the showing we wanted.”

The line of Kieffer Bellows, Cody Glass and Skyler McKenzie is one of the Western Hockey League’s most potent units, having contributed 42 per cent of the team’s production and were at it again, as they racked up eight points and occupied all three star selections.

“We just stuck to our game plans. Sky is a really speedy guy and Kieffer can shoot the puck, so if we all stick to our game plans, then that’s when we are the best,” said Glass.

Bellows got things going in the first when Hitmen captain Matteo Gennaro was dislodged from the puck leaving his own zone. Bellows swooped in, grabbed the puck and made a quick move to expose Nick Schneider’s five-hole.

Four and a half minutes later, Jake Gricius burned past Hitmen centre Cael Zimmerman down the ice and reached the left post as Brad Ginnell weaved a pass through a pair of Hitmen sticks to his centre for the tap in.

Bellows wasn’t done there: his second of the game came a lot easier, as the sonar vision from Glass spotted alternate captain Henri Jokiharju at the point. The Finnish product’s shot was stopped, but there was Bellows to pounce of the rebound for his 18th of the season.

It wasn’t just a poor start defensively for the Hitmen (6-14-3-1). They didn’t register their second shot until the 13:13 mark of the opening frame, when Tristen Nielsen took a clapper from the outside.

Firepower was expected from the Winterhawks, as they cranked 55 shots in the Kootenay ICE’s direction last night in a 5-2 victory and has now scored more than five goals in four of their last five games.

In the second period, the Winterhawks (17-4-0-0) showed why they might be the class of the Western Conference.

To say that Glass has the puck on a string, isn’t giving the Vegas Golden Knights prospect enough credit. After making a couple slick passes in the zone, he picked up the eventual game-winner when the puck came back to the Winnipeg product at the left faceoff dot and wired a wrist shot past Schneider on the glove side.

Down 4-0, the Hitmen received a spark from their third line.

Since being acquired by the Hitmen earlier this month, centre Orca Wiesblatt has been on the fast track to success program and has recently found himself on the second line centering Jake Kryski and Nielsen.

Nielsen had Wiesblatt provided were trying their best to energize their team. They finished their checks, shot the puck when the opportunity presented itself and competed against one of the league’s top teams.

“I think we both have a similar style of game. We know where each other is and I like playing with him,” said Wiesblatt when talking about his line mate Nielsen. “We’re good together.”

The Hitmen made their attempt at a comeback in the second period when Wiesblatt won a faceoff directly to Nielsen, who was positioned at the top right of the left faceoff circle. Nielsen snapped a firm shot on net, handcuffing Kehler, trickling into the back of the net.

Six minutes later, the Hitmen cut the 4-0 lead in half when Gennaro pulled off one of his most impressive shots on home ice this season when he powdered a saucer feed from Andrei Grishakov in the corner. The first Hitmen goal was a bit of a cheapie, but there was nothing the WHL’s top goaltender could have done to stop Gennaro’s 14th of the season as it was labeled for the top corner above the blocker.

Not to long after the captain’s blast, it felt as if the Winterhawks were simply toying with the Hitmen. They slightly opened the door for the home team only to slam it back in their face. In the closing three minutes of the second period, the Winterhawks pulled into the fast lane, stepped on the gas and left the Hitmen in the dust.

First, it was McKenzie, who corralled a loose puck in front of Schneider on the power play, pulling it back and roofing it past the 20-year-old netminder.

Less than a minute later, Bronson Sharp flew down the ice on the forecheck, stole the puck and beat Schneider to the far post for his second of the season.

The Hitmen temporarily got one back when Kryski blazed a shot past Kehler, but it was obviously well after a whistle for a delayed too many men penalty.

With Stukel in the box and Kryski’s fifth goal waved off, Joachim Blichfeld scored off the ensuing offensive faceoff.

In the blink of an eye, the Winterhawks had the Hitmen by the throat once again.

Things haven’t gone smoothly for the Calgary Flames goaltending prospect lately. During this now seven-game losing streak — all of which started by Schneider – he has allowed 31 goals and was yanked after the second period. Tonight, he only stopped 21 of 28 shots. Rookie netminder Matthew Armitage replaced him to start the third and stopped all nine shots he faced. For the Creston, B.C. product, it was his first action since Oct. 28, when he started against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

“Nick is a 20-year-old and he’s been through this before. He has to find a way to regroup and come here tomorrow with a clean slate and have a good practice,” said LaBarbera. “We’ve been riding him pretty hard and he’s played a lot of hockey and played in a lot of games; we rely on him a lot.”

Schneider has played the most minutes (1,234) and faced the most shots (650) of any goalie in the league.

During garbage time, Wiesblatt grabbed a rebound in front of the net on his backhand, flipped it over to his forehand and lifted the puck into the wide-open net for his second goal with the Hitmen. Layne Toder and Kryski picked up assists.

“We tried our best to get our matchups, play hard and not turn the puck over. We also took some penalties that probably weren’t the best idea at the time and obviously when you give guys with that kind of talent those situations, they’re going to capitalize,” said LaBarbera.

The penalty kill unit for the Hitmen continued to take a hit, as the Winterhawks converted 3-of-5 attempts. Since killing 12-straight penalties early in the season, the Hitmen’s once stifling penalty kill has free-fallen from 87.5 per cent to 78.7 per cent, as they have allowed a power play goal in the past nine of their last 10 games.

That being said, with the Hitmen’s now season-high losing streak and penalty kill troubles, it must be taken into account who they have been playing. In the past seven games, they have four teams ranked in the top-10 Canadian Hockey League standings and an honourable mention — not the easiest of tasks, especially when the majority of it came away from the Dome.

Things could be looking up with the holiday season around the corner. Tonight was the first game in a stretch of 10 games featuring eight home games before Christmas. The two road games tossed in are no big deal either, as they will travel to Red Deer Dec. 2 and Cranbrook Dec. 16 — destinations not requiring a night in a hotel. Also to keep in mind, is that of the next 14 games for the Hitmen, 10 come against Central Division opponents, providing a chance to makeup ground in the weakest division.

The Hitmen will continue the home stand Saturday afternoon, when the Red Deer Rebels (9-14-1-0) roll into town. Puck drop is set for 1:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Sportsnet.