Tyler Lowey

Third period meltdown burns Hitmen

The Calgary Hitmen’s leading goal scorer had the puck on his stick as time ticked away in the third period of a tie game.

Standing from the same general area where he netted two power play goals earlier, he fired off a quick snap shot, beating Spokane Chiefs rookie netminder Donovan Buskey — but not the iron.

Not too long after, the Hitmen continued hemorrhaging goals in the third, surrendering the game-winner at the 17:40 mark, to fall 6-4 to the hands of the Chiefs Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“It’s hard to swallow right now,” said Hitmen Head Coach Dallas Ferguson.

The Hitmen led 3-2 entering the second period, a score that still remained when the puck was dropped to start the third.

They carried the majority of the play, led 26-21 in shots and received a few lucky bounces along the way to position themselves 20 minutes away from a second-straight win on home ice.

“It’s a disappointing loss. We had the game in our grasp, but a couple mental lapses in the third cost us,” said Gennaro. “It should have been two points for our team but we came out with zero.”

The Chiefs (8-5-0-1) began the comeback in the third when a wild shot from Dalton Hamaliuk rimmed around the boards to Nolan Reid, who pounded the puck top shelf past Nick Schneider.

Calgary native Jaret Anderson-Dolan easily won a battle on the end wall, dished the puck to Cedric Chenier, who fed the puck through 20-year-old Hitmen netminder Schneider’s 5-hole, over to Riley McKay for the tap in game-tying goal.

“It’s really exciting anytime we get to play in front of family and friends, especially when you live so far away in Spokane. I missed this road trip two years ago when I was with the U17s, so it was nice to come back, play well and get the win in front of family and friends,” said Los Angeles Kings prospect Anderson-Dolan, who finished with two helpers.

With just over two minutes remaining, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Jake Bean mishandled the puck trying to clear it away from his net. The puck slid right over to Eli Zummack for the tap in, completing the comeback.

Riley Woods supplied the empty-netter on the power play, which concluded the 4-1 third period and dented what was a bulletproof penalty kill system to start the season.

The league’s top penalty kill unit saw it’s streak of 12-straight kills snapped, when newly acquired Zach Fischer jammed the puck underneath Schneider’s left leg on a wrap-around attempt for the Chiefs first goal on the net. The goal was reviewed, however briefly, and was approved, as the Calgary Flames prospect netted his first goal with the Chiefs.

The 20-year-old Fischer was drafted 140th overall by the Calgary Flames and was traded from the Medicine Hat Tigers Oct. 19 for Hayden Ostir (18), Eric Van Impe (16) and a second-round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.

Assisting on Fischer’s goal was highly touted prospect Ty Smith.

While there might have been 5,678 fans in attendance, it was difficult to differentiate between who was a scout and who was a fan, as the media room was packed before the game with Smith making his first, and probably last trip with the Chiefs to the Saddledome.

On Oct. 3, NHL Central Scouting released their annual Players to Watch list and was headlined by Smith, who was the only one to receive letter A grade.

Aside from the assist, Smith skated well with the puck at times, won the odd battle in the corner, but was relatively unnoticeable as it appeared the Hitmen (4-8-1-0) were both trying to avoid him offensively and taking away any space he had once he got the puck.

Depending on which website you check out, Smith is listed as a middle-of-the-pack first-rounder for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

In his second full season with the Chiefs, he has two goals and 14 points in 14 games with a plus-3 rating.

Smith also was named an alternate captain for Team Canada and helped them capture their 21st gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, when they downed the Czech Republic 4-1 Aug. 12 in Breclav, Czech Republic. In five games, he registered one assist and finished with a plus-1 rating.

Remarkably rare, he also captained Team Canada Black during the World U17 Hockey Challenge, when they lost in the gold medal game 2-1 to Team Sweden. In six games, he supplied two goals and four points.

His teammate, Hudson Elyniuk supplied the other first-period tally for the Chiefs. Like Anderson-Dolan, he is a local product and was appearing in his first game at the Dome. He fired home a drop pass from Woods beneath the faceoff dot to the right of Schneider, who made 32 stops on the evening.

It was Elyniuk’s third goal in two games coming off a scoreless performance Oct. 20 in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kamloops Blazers.

Also looking to bounce back after a scoreless performance was Hitmen captain Gennaro, who was held off the score sheet during Sunday’s shootout win over the Prince George Cougars. He started up a new point streak in the first while on the power play. Jake Bean and Vladislav Yeryomenko worked the puck along the right side, drawing the defenders and opening a lane for Gennaro. Noticing he was open, Bean feathered a pass to Gennaro, who one-timed the puck past Buskey.

Like the solid penalty kill that took a hit tonight, the opposite occurred, as the dead-last power play unit showed signs of life, converting twice in five attempts.

In the third, from the exact same location, Gennaro teed up another clapper on the man advantage from Jake Kryski and Bean, to give him eight goals and 15 points this season.

Left-winger Andrei Grishakov caught Buskey off guard 1:49 into the first, when alternate captain Mark Kastelic spotted the Russian product in front of the net from the corner. Two whacks later, Grishakov netted his third goal on the season.

Playing in his 11th game this season, the 44th overall pick from 2016, Cael Zimmerman was the recipient of puck luck in front of the net.

Grishakov’s point shot hit Justyn Gurney in front of the net and bounced out to Zimmerman, who chipped in his second career goal. Also picking up an assist on the play was Calgary product Andrew Viggars, who recorded his first-career WHL point in his seventh game, as the Hitmen led 3-2 after one.

That’s all backup goalie Buskey would allow after a shaky start, allowing three goals on 10 shots. He closed out the game with 23 saves.

A tough loss, no matter how you shake it, as the Chiefs are still without Kailer Yamamoto, who has played six games with the struggling Edmonton Oilers. He currently has three assists for the lowest-scoring NHL franchise. In 190 career games with the Chiefs, Yamamoto has 84 goals, 143 assists and 227 points to go with his plus-46 rating.

Leading up to game day with the Chiefs, two Hitmen opted to end their season earlier than expected Monday afternoon.

Defenceman Ryely McKinstry, who was acquired from the Vancouver Giants Sept. 25 for a conditional draft pick in the 2019 Bantam Draft, opted to retire. McKinstry was originally a 23rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, but only 43 games in three years with the Giants as injuries slowed him down. Yet to appear in a game with his hometown Hitmen, McKinstry hung them up because of health-related issues.

Cullen, a Kelowna product, was a fifth-round selection and participated in 48 games for Hitmen in the two-plus seasons. The energy line centre scored four goals and totaled eight points in 37 games last season. This year, in seven games, he only recorded one assist, coming in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Prince Albert Raiders Sept. 29. The Hitmen released a statement on Twitter, saying that he left the team to pursue other hockey opportunities in B.C. According to a source, the Vernon Vipers of the B.C. Hockey League have already reached out to Cullen. He has yet to decide on a new team.

The moves leave the Hitmen incredibly thin up front, as Matt Doresy and Beck Malenstyn are out with injuries. Doresy has yet to play this year and Malenstyn sustained an upper-body injury Sept. 30 against the Saskatoon Blades.

The Hitmen and their shortened roster won’t have too long to think about the two points that could have put them in a temporary tie for third in the division, as they hit the road to take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes (5-5-0-0) Friday night (7 p.m.) at the Enmax Centre. Returning home, the Hitmen will host the defending WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds (5-4-0-1) Saturday night at the Saddledome. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m.