Hitmen depth comes up big in 7-2 victory over Warriors

The fourth and final meeting between the Calgary Hitmen and Moose Jaw Warriors was a fairly one-sided affair from the first puck drop.

The Hitmen played a disciplined and relaxed style of hockey that was too much for the young Moose Jaw club.

Luke Prokop, who had a career night with three assists, also credited the Hitmen offensive-zone pressure by saying post-game “We know we can get to their defensemen and keep the puck down low and dominate them that way. We’re big and strong and that’s the way we’re built… That’s the way we played and the shots were a result of it.”

While the Warriors failed to generate many shots and/or quality scoring chances, it was ultimately the secondary scoring and contributions from the Hitmen bench that paved the way to a 7-2 victory on home ice.

The Calgary Hitmen began this matchup against the Moose Jaw Warriors on a very positive note when Garrett Wright was sent off for a tripping infraction, giving Calgary a power play. Just 16 seconds into the power play and 41 seconds into the game, Carson Focht jumped on a loose puck to the side of a sprawled out Adam Evanoff and buried it for an early lead.

In the following few minutes, Calgary continued to press and generated several good chances while dominating in possession. Dakota Krebs, who was searching for his first of the season, ripped a quick point wrist shot through traffic that beat Evanoff but not the left post.

The Warriors managed to get their first of only two shots 13:54 into the frame due to a rather dismal forecheck which made for an effortless Calgary breakout. Despite Calgary’s domination of possession in the first, the Warriors escaped the period with a 1-0 deficit while being outshot 8-2.

Orca Wiesblatt and Carson Focht
Photo By: Candice Ward Photography

The strong performance continued into the second and with it came offense.

Under two minutes into the period, Riley Fiddler-Schultz received a sweet dish from Orca Wiesblatt but missed wide on the yawning cage.

Just under three minutes later, Fiddler-Schultz redeemed himself when Jett Woo fired the forward a cross-ice pass from where he walked in and beat Evanoff short side.

Nearly two minutes later, recent addition from the injured reserve Cael Zimmerman pounced on a juicy rebound off a Luke Prokop point shot for his first point of the season.

Captain Mark Kastelic was next to contribute as the overager ripped a shot top shelf to extend the lead to 4-0. Both Prokop brothers picked up assists on the Kastelic goal with older brother Josh receiving the primary.

Despite the fact the Warriors had begun generating more offensive opportunity past the ten-minute mark, the Calgary offense remained persistent. Just past the 13-minute mark, Adam Kydd was gifted with an open net on which he scored after a net-front scramble kept Evanoff from tracking the puck.

Late in the frame, the Warriors received two power plays, both of which the club capitalized on, ending Brayden Peters’ shot at the shutout.

The first Warriors goal came off the stick of Ryder Korczak who wired a slot snapshot past Peters. With just 41 seconds remaining in the second and five seconds into a minor penalty to Orca Wiesblatt, Brayden Tracey shortened the Calgary lead to three when the 2019 first-round selection of the Anaheim Ducks beat Peters on a shot from the high slot. Suddenly, the Warriors bench had some life as the two teams made their way to the locker rooms for the second intermission.

Riley Fiddler Schultz
Photo By: Candice Ward Photography

Despite the push from Moose Jaw toward the latter part of the second, it was Calgary who struck first yet again.

Just 1:25 into the third, Josh Prokop intercepted a pass and walked into the Moose Jaw zone to beat Adam Evanoff from a distance. This goal signaled the end of Evanoff’s night, he allowed six goals on 23 shots.

The play continued on as the Hitmen kept testing Jackson Berry who stepped in for relief of Adam Evanoff. However, Brayden Peters also managed to keep out all 10 shots faced in the third — most notably a flashy glove hand robbery on rookie Eric Alarie who came in alone and went forehand to backhand and was stopped by Peters to preserve to 6-2 lead.

Evan Toth added a goal late in the period as the 17-year-old defenseman swung in on a tight angle and tucked the puck past Jackson Berry for his second goal in the last five games.

With this victory, the Hitmen moved to within seven points of the third-place Medicine Hat Tigers in the competitive Central Division while maintaining a comfortable Eastern Conference wild-card position. After the game, Calgary Hitmen head coach Steve Hamilton spoke regarding his team’s play, stating, “I thought we did an excellent job of going low to high… We had 102 shot attempts tonight which might be our all-time record, so the guys got the message which is lots of volume and good things happen when you shoot the puck.”

The Hitmen will get a four-day break before returning to the Saddledome on Friday when they play host to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

 

The Hitlist:

  • Moose Jaw’s road record dropped to 3-12-1-0 on the season while the Hitmen’s home record improved to 11-6-1-1.

  • Calgary now has points in 8 of the last 10 games played.

  • In his last two starts, Brayden Peters has put up a 0.935 save percentage.

  • On Sunday, Hitmen defenseman Egor Zamula took home a silver medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Hitmen Goalie Coach Jason Labarbera won gold with team Canada.