The Calgary Hitmen, having lost five of their last six, will look to regain traction and get back into the win column against the Red Deer Rebels. The Rebels, who have played some of their better hockey as of late with five wins in their last seven games, will first host Calgary on Saturday before switching over to the ‘dome Sunday. While all eight playoff spots within the Eastern Conference have been secured, with just four games remaining, the Hitmen still have a slight chance of moving up in the standings. In saying that, the Saskatoon Blades sit just four points back of the Hitmen with a pair of games in hand. The Rebels are out of the playoff picture but will surely be looking to close out the season series with victories against their Central Division rivals in what has been a physical matchup thus far.
Calgary has maintained a commanding lead in the season series against Red Deer, going 4-1-1-0. The Hitmen and Rebels have already squared off in a home-and-home pair of games this year with Calgary taking both games 5-to-2 on back-to-back nights. Since these games on January 25th and 26th, both clubs have shut out the other once. On a positive note for the Hitmen, Calgary has had a number of high performers lately. On Saturday, Mark Kastelic‘s 13-game point streak came to an end. During that streak, the captain contributed 13 goals and 21 points. Deadline addition Kyle Olson has also made a splash and has recorded 18 points in 14 games with the Hitmen, despite going pointless in his first two games. Though these two players have been crucial to Calgary’s offense lately, the Hitmen have struggled in the absence of the Prokop brothers. While both are key pieces to the success of the Hitmen, younger brother Luke was coming off a terrific B.C. Division road trip before he and his older brother were both ruled out on a week-to-week status with lower body injuries. Riley Fiddler-Schultz is also out week-to-week with an upper body injury. It is also a very likely that Jack McNaughton gets at least one start this weekend, considering the fact that the Hitmen will play two games in a span of under 20 hours. Brayden Peters also has struggled in his past two starts, allowing 11 goals against on 67 shots, making it the perfect time for McNaughton to step up and take the load off Peters’ shoulders.
The Hitmen will finish their season with another home-and-home set against the Swift Current Broncos on March 20th and 22nd.
The Hitlist:
- The Calgary Hitmen are just 3-14-2-1 when allowing four or more goals against.
- Luke Prokop finished the B.C. road trip with three goals and two helpers along with a +3 rating and 10 shots on goal. Prokop also picked up his first multi-goal game against the Vancouver Giants during that trip.
