Hitmen quieted in Langley

The double-tapping B.C. road trip for the Calgary Hitmen has gotten off to a less than desirable start.

The Hitmen crossed off both road games scheduled in Victoria last weekend, as they dropped the series by a combined score of 11-4.

Tonight at the Langley Events Centre, the Hitmen dropped the first of two consecutive meetings with the playoff bound Vancouver Giants 4-1 in front of 2,624 fans.

The newly acquired hometown kid Davis Koch got things going for the Giants when recorded his first goal with his new club in the first period when he fired a laser underneath the blocker of Nick Schneider at the 9:59 mark. Koch was in on a rush with the possibility of passing the puck to the unstoppable Ty Ronning crashing down the other wing. Schneider made the first move — maybe thinking the pass was coming, maybe not — and Koch burned him for his 19th goal of the season.

In the second, Aidan Barfoot cut in tight on Schneider and tried to outlast the Calgary Flames goaltending prospect. Schneider hung in there and denied Barfoot with his right pad. Hitmen defencemen Layne Toder tried to clear the mess in front of the net, but Tyler Popowich poked the puck through Toder’s legs and into the open cage for his fifth of the season.

A rarity this evening, Giants Head Coach Jason McKee split up the talented duo of Ronning and Tyler Benson. Later in the second, the two found themselves on the ice at the same time during a delayed penalty against the Hitmen. Ronning took a rink-wide pass from Benson at the top of the blue paint and tapped in his 43rd goal of the season.

Ronning entered the game tied with Mark Rassell of the Medicine Hat Tigers with 42 goals. Benson’s assist set a career-high with 46 points for the Edmonton Oilers prospect. To the delight of hockey fans everywhere, it appears that Benson is the healthiest he has been in years, as he has passed his game totals for the past two seasons.

Ronning later added to his goal total by netting his league-leading sixth empty-net goal of the season.

For tonight’s affair, the Giants (26-16-5-3) called up the third overall pick from the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, Justin Sourdif. It marked his second-career WHL game. In 25 games this season for the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League, he has 15 goals and 32 assists. Tonight, he centred the third line in between Owen Hardy and Jared Dmytriw.

Hitmen leading scorer Jakob Stukel was able to put one past the stellar goaltending performance of David Tendeck in the third period. Stukel, a Surrey product playing in his quasi-hometown, was the 37th overall pick by the Giants in the 2012 Bantam Draft. He spent parts of four injury-plagued seasons with the Giants, registering only 24 points.

Riley Stotts, who has been nothing but a point-producing machine since joining the Hitmen in November, sent a laser pass to Stukel, who one-timed it past Tendeck for his 24th goal of the season.

It was a little revenge for Stukel, as early on, Tendeck displayed why he entered tonight’s game with the league’s third-best goals against average.

A cross-ice pass from Jake Kryski to Stukel was unbelievably shutdown by the North Vancouver product’s glove hand for one of his 27 saves on the evening.

At the other end of the rink, Schneider’s best stop also came in the first period.

The Hitmen (15-29-5-1) were on the penalty kill when NHL Entry Draft prospect Dylan Plouffe unloaded a one-timer from the point, but Schneider slid over for the key save. Another solid effort by Schneider was tossed away, as he made 31 saves and dropped his record to 15-23-5-1 this season.

Stukel will play his final game in front of family and friends by the team he was drafted when these two teams lace them back up Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Hitmen will return home from their final western swing to host the Medicine Hat Tigers (26-21-6-0) Feb. 11 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.