In a night that saw the Calgary Hitmen welcome three forwards back from injury, the additions were not enough to surge the Hitmen past the central division leading Edmonton Oil Kings. While Calgary played a strong final period, an undisciplined second period for Calgary where the Oil Kings dominated was too much to overcome.
To begin the first frame the Central Division rivals both came out of the gate with a fast paced and physical brand. With fairly back and forth play in the first few minutes, it was the Hitmen who had the edge in quality shots and attempts. It took the Hitmen just five minutes on the dot to capitalize on this momentum when Orca Wiesblatt displayed a terrific individual effort by gaining zone entry before fending off Edmonton defenders and feeding Blake Allan for the tap in.
Allan recorded his fourth of the campaign while Wiesblatt continued his hot play as of late with the helper. Under four minutes later, after a disallowed Oil King goal due to goaltender Interference, Adam Kydd was penalized for boarding off a hard hit on Keegan Slaney. The Hitmen successfully killed the penalty which against the Oil Kings has been a difficult task for the Hitmen thus far.
After the kill, the Hitmen once again gained momentum. This energy surge from the Hitmen saw a flying James Malm ring a wicked wrist shot off the crossbar Despite the close call, the Hitmen were forced to settle with the one-goal lead.
The second started on a note that the Hitmen were certainly hoping they could avoid as leads against Edmonton have been rather deceptive this year for Calgary. Just 33 seconds in Mark Kastelic was sent off for hooking. This penalty kill was very different for the Hitmen as it only took Edmonton 26 seconds that ended with a silky pass from Carter Souch to David Kope who tied the game at one.
Midway through the frame the Hitmen continued with penalty problems as Jett Woo was sent off for interference. Despite a strong approach to the Edmonton power play that included a massive slot-shot save from Brayden Peters, Jake Neighbours with just a single second left on the power play wired a shot past Peters from a tough angle to take the lead for the Oil Kings.
Penalty troubles did not end there for the Hitmen as Jonas Peterek was penalized for tripping just over four minutes later. Once again the Oil Kings boasted a strong power play with excellent passing that was finished with Dylan Guenther’s eighth of the season as the rookie jammed a puck past Brayden Peters this time just 25 seconds after the man advantage started.
Although the period would end for the Hitmen with a two goal deficit, Adam Kydd was called for slashing for his second penalty of the night to cap off disappointing period of undisciplined hockey for Calgary.
The Hitmen began the third with what turned out to be a fantastic kill of the Adam Kydd minor penalty allowing for no Edmonton shots. The kill provided the Hitmen offense with jolt of momentum as the team immediately took ahold of the majority of puck control and increased pressure in the offensive zone.
Calgary also started testing Todd Scott on multiple occasions who up to the third hadn’t seen many threatening Calgary scoring opportunities. The Hitmen continued this domination as Calgary managed to outshoot the Oil Kings 9-to-0 by the halfway mark of the third. Calgary was also granted a minute long five on three power play when David Kope and Josh Williams were sent off for hooking and holding.
Despite a strong first half of the man advantage, Kope killed all momentum when the forward took the puck down on a breakaway short handed but was stopped by Peters. With little time remaining, the Hitmen continued to press while shortening their bench. Head coach Steve Hamilton utilized his teams’ timeout but captain Mark Kastelic was able to cut the Oil King lead to one after a long shift for his line. The Oil Kings, however sealed the deal with just 18 seconds remaining when Jalen Luypen
sent just the second Oil King shot on the empty net from the Edmonton zone to regain the two goal lead. The game ended with flaring tensions and scrums reminding fans of the classic Calgary and Edmonton rivalry.
The Hitmen will battle the Oil Kings again Saturday night in Edmonton before returning home to host the Everett Silvertips on Sunday.
The Hitlist:
- Scott made 40 saves on 42 shots to improve to 8-4-4-1 while putting up a 4-0-1-0 against Calgary.
- With assists on both goals, Wiesblatt now sits at a point per game as the 19-year-old winger has managed to put up 10 goals and 16 assists in 26 games played.
