Candice Ward

Kydd tallies twice to fuel Hitmen past Tigers

The Sunday matchup between the Medicine Hat Tigers and host Calgary Hitmen was an opportunity for both clubs to finish the weekend with a perfect six points. Last season, in the six-game season series between the teams, the Hitmen won five of six, despite only outscoring Medicine Hat 29-22. Calgary also won all of the contests played on home ice, while four players (Focht, Malm, Kastelic, Zamula) had nine or more points in the series.

Coming into the game, Medicine Hat’s Bryan Lockner was tied for the league lead in goals with four. The Tigers’ Mads Sogaard also started the afternoon game having stopped 82-of-87 shots for a .943 save percentage. Lastly, Medicine Hat remained the only WHL team with a perfect penalty kill, having killed off all 10 through four games.

Mads Sogaard (photo-Candice Ward)

Linemates James Malm and Jonas Peterek were given the afternoon off and in for them were rookies Samuel Krajc and Zac Funk, who suited up for their first WHL game. Sogaard and Carl Stankowski manned the creases. The game started on a heated note as Hunter Campbell and Ryan Chyzowski dropped the mitts after a hit by Chyzowski. Campbell came out of the fight with a two minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which the Hitmen were able to kill off. The remainder of the first half of the first frame saw only two shots for both teams. The nine minute mark was when the pace of the game began to heat up, as the teams exchanged odd man rushes, eventually leading to a Corson Hopwo penalty. Calgary was able to capitalize on the man advantage when Adam Kydd snapped a quick wrist shot past Sogaard for his first WHL point.

The second period saw a much faster paced game, as Calgary began creating more quality scoring chances. Calgary managed to beat Mads Sogaard twice, but his post and crossbar were there to back him up both times. Medicine Hat struggled on the power play after Jett Woo was penalized for interference. This allowed for Riley Stotts to find a free puck and break in on Mads Sogaard before being tripped up to force a penalty shot. Stotts, who had a hat trick in Calgary’s previous game, came in with speed but was denied by the towering Sogaard. After the Woo penalty expired, the defenseman was also able to pick up a flipped puck to break in on Sogaard, who again made the timely save.

Carl Stankowski (photo-Candice wArd)

The final frame allowed a pair of young guns to showcase their talents early. Sean Tschigerl fed Kydd a beautiful cross-crease pass to tap in his second of the evening and complete the connection of the two 2003-born forwards who skated on a line with Hunter Campbell. Despite a late extra-attacker push by the Tigers, Calgary held on to win 2-0, while Carl Stankowski collected his first career WHL shutout in the 33-save performance. After the game, Kydd spoke about the chemistry he experienced with Campbell and Tschigerl, saying, “They are both smart players and hard workers, so when you put three hard workers together, good things are going to happen. We just kept putting pressure on their D and kept banging bodies and then put a couple in.”

Calgary hosts Portland next Sunday as the Winterhawks make the trip over to Alberta.

The Hitlist:

  • Calgary jumped Medicine Hat for the lead in the Central Division and the top seed in the entire WHL while collecting six out of a possible six points this weekend.
  • Despite the loss, Mads Sogaard maintains an impressive .940 save percentage after four games played.