On Saturday night the Calgary Hitmen secured their first preseason win of 2019 against Medicine Hat. The Hitmen looked to continue their success the following afternoon in the final WHL preseason contest against the 1-2-1 Red Deer Rebels.
Jack McNaughton and Byron Fancy were named starting goaltenders for the evening. Although both have struggled so far this preseason the 2001-born netminders were being looked upon as starters on this occasion.
The night did not start on a hot note for either goaltender as Evan Toth opened the scoring with a top-shelf wrist shot from the point which would be matched by the Rebels just 1:31 later when Jayden Grubbe scored off a tough board bounce for Jack Mcnaughton to tie the game at 1.
Jonas Peterek soon after tucked the puck five-hole on Fancy to retake the lead for Calgary. The rest of the period was opened up for Calgary as Riely Fiddler-Schultz and Adam Kydd also scored to put the Hitmen up 4-1 after the first.
The next two periods were 15-minute frames while being played at 4-on-4 which certainly brought the aspect of fatigue into play, especially considering both teams were only playing three forward lines. Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored for his second goal of the game and added to an impressive performance. This goal caused a goaltending change for Red Deer. Ethan Anders took over the crease and helped restore life for the Rebels as Jace Isley capitalized to shorten the Calgary lead to 5-2.
Josh Prokop finished the scoring with a shorthanded goal 42 seconds after the Isley goal in response and killed any hope of a comeback for the Rebels.
Despite Ethan Hein getting the crease for Calgary In the third, not much else changed. Although no goals were scored, the Hitmen commanded most of the play over the younger Red Deer lineup and outshot the Rebels 11-2 for a game total of 30-14.
The Hitlist
- Riley Fiddler-Schultz was a standout all game while scoring 2 goals and dominating the faceoff circle going 12 for 18.
- Defense Pairing of Evan Toth and Tyson Gallaway both were +3 and Toth contributed a goal for the Hitmen.
- Both teams struggled on the power play as Red Deer went 0-for-4 allowing one short-handed goal while Calgary was 0-for-3.
- Calgary scored six goals on 30 shots after scoring only five in first three preseason games.
