Candice Ward

Calgary Offence Comes up Short in 2-1 Loss to T-Bird’s.

After another slow start from the Calgary Hitmen, It was two early goals from the opposing Seattle Thunderbirds that was too much for Calgary to rebound from. Roddy Ross gave his team an edge by playing an excellent sixty minutes in the Seattle crease, while the Thunderbirds defensive game was also terrific

The first period for the Calgary Hitmen was one to forget while the Seattle Thunderbirds displayed a nearly perfect 20 minutes of play. Just 33 seconds into the frame, Seattle captain and Florida Panthers prospect Matthew Wedman tallied off a puck that was sneakily passed through traffic by Henrik Rybinski and Michael Horon to Wedman who effortlessly tapped the puck into the yawning open cage. In scoring, Wedman tied teammate Andrej Kukuca for the lead in team scoring with five each. Not three minutes later, Keltie Jeri-Leon threw a puck on net from the far-right sideboards which was fumbled by Brayden Peters for the second goal on just the second Seattle shot. After killing off a Blake Allan Slashing minor, Calgary managed to find their offensive focus, however, the Thunderbirds’ relentless forecheck and Roddy Ross’ contribution from the crease kept the Hitmen within two. As play went on Brayden Peters quickly settled in and made two significant saves within the last few minutes.

After a penalty-filled first period that included a vocal Thunderbirds bench and a frustrated Hitmen team, It was clear that heading into the second the Hitmen were determined to avoid undisciplined play. Calgary came out with a lot more energy off the bat in the second. Just over two minutes in Riley Stotts beat Roddy Ross on a hard wrist shot from the high slot, luckily for Ross, his left post bailed him out to keep the Seattle lead at two. Later in the frame on a delayed Thunderbirds penalty, Layne Toder took advantage of a heavy screening in front of Ross and cut the lead to one-off a far-left point wrist shot. Assisting the goal was Hunter Campbell and Blake Allan who recorded his first point as a member of the Hitmen. Despite the Hitmen ending Roddy Ross’ chances of a shutout, the Toder goal was the only offense that was mustered up in the second as both goaltenders continued to stand tall.

Calgary’s energy to start the third period was a testament as to why the final frame has been Calgary’s best frame this season. Although Calgary only outshot Seattle 5-2 in the first nine minutes of play, they were the outright controllers of the play. Even with the offensive push by Calgary, the Seattle defensive specialists continued to shut down. With time winding down, Seattle began to show serious fatigue after chasing most of the period. The Hitmen pulled Brayden Peters with just over a minute remaining, but the extra attacker for the Hitmen proved to be not enough as the Thunderbirds hung on for the 2-1 victory.

The Hitmen continue their homestand this weekend against the Saskatoon Blades Saturday before playing host to the Edmonton Oil Kings Sunday.

Mark Kastelic and Roddy Ross – Photo: Candice Ward

The Hitlist:

  • Egor Zamula now pointless in two of Calgary’s last three games after riding nine-game point streak to start the season.
  • Roddy Ross Stopped 33 of 34 shots and is fifth in save percentage with a 0.917 when it comes to goaltenders with 10 or more games played.
  • In Monday night’s loss to T-Birds, Mark Kastelic had his eight-game point streak snapped, while both Jonas Peterek and Riley Stotts end their point streaks at five.