Round 2 Game 3 Preview: Calgary vs Medicine Hat | 04.13.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Eastern Conference Semi-Final series between the Calgary Hitmen and Medicine Hat Tigers shifts to the Stampede City tonight for Game 3. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink 60-minute Hitmen Happy Hour, which begins when doors open at 6:00 p.m. Fans can also watch for FREE on Victory+ or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The 2026 WHL Playoffs are presented by Nutrien. The Tigers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after a 4-3 home ice regulation win on Saturday night. Defenceman Josh Van Muligan scored the game-winner, breaking a 3-3 tie 4:30 into the third period. The Hitmen who built first period leads of 2-0 and 3-1 received their goals from Caine Wilke, Keaton Jundt and Ethan Moore. Wilke and Moore both added an assist for a team leading two points each. Calgary outshot Medicine Hat 30-24 and went 1-3 on the power play. The Tigers were 0-1.
SERIES SCHEDULE: The Tigers have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final with the Best-of-Seven Round 2 series a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
| Game 1 | Friday, April 10 | Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT | MH leads the series 1-0 | |
| Game 2 | Saturday, April 11 | Tigers 4 Hitmen 3 | MH leads the series 2-0 | |
| Game 3 | Monday, April 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 4 | Wednesday, April 15 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 5* | Friday, April 17 | 6:00 p.m. | Co-op Place, Medicine Hat | |
| Game 6* | Sunday, April 19 | 4:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 7* | Tuesday, April 21 | 7:00 p.m. | Co-op Place, Medicine Hat | |
| *Indicates if necessary. Times listed in Mountain Time. | ||||
GAME 2 STATS: Ethan Moore and Kale Dale led the Hitmen with four shots on goal each Saturday night. Hunter Aura, Blake Vanek, Caine Wilke and Luc Trevors were all next with three shots a piece. Five Tigers shared the Medicine Hat lead with three shots each. In the face-off circle, Calgary went a combined 29-54 on draws, clicking at 53.7%. Harrison Lodewyk led the charge with 10 face-off wins.
SERIES STATS: Ethan Moore (2g, 1a) and Caine Wilke (1g, 2a) are tied for the Hitmen lead in scoring with three points each. Kale Dach (1g, 1a) is next with two. Medicine Hat has been led by Bryce Pickford (2g, 1a), Kade Stengrim (1g, 2a) and Jonas Woo (1g, 2a) at three points each. The Tigers have outshot the Hitmen by a combined 67-59. On the special teams front, Calgary is 1-5 on the powerplay (20%) with Medicine Hat 1-4 (25%). Of the 139 total minutes played this series Calgary has held the lead for 19 minutes and 42 seconds with Medicine Hat in front for 15 minutes and 30 seconds.
STREAKIN’: Dating back to the regular season, Ethan Moore (8g, 3a) is on a seven-game goal scoring streak. Caine Wilke (1g, 4a) is on a three-game point streak. Kale Dach (2g, 3a) saw his two-game goal scoring streak end in Game 2.
KEEPING IT CLOSE: Of Calgary’s six playoff games, three have been decided in overtime with the three others all within a goal in the final two minutes before two of those games were sealed with empty net tallies.
DID YOU KNOW? Ethan Moore’s seven playoff goals are tied for the WHL lead with Terik Parascak of Prince George and Miroslav Holinka of Edmonton.
REMEMBER WHEN? Last season in the 2025 WHL Playoffs, the Hitmen dropped the first two games of their second round series with Lethbridge. Calgary then responded to take Game 3 by a score of 5-3. Carson Wetsch led the way with a hat-trick while David Adaszynski, and Axel Hurtig added singles in the victory. The Hurricanes outshot the Hitmen 29-23, but goaltender Anders Miller made 26 saves to pick up the win.
REGULAR SEASON REWIND: The Hitmen finished the regular season as the #4 seed in the WHL’s Eastern Conference posting a record of 38-21-8-1, good for 85 points. Medicine Hat was the #2 seed with 108 points after going 50-10-5-3.
- MEDICINE HAT: The Hitmen and Tigers met eight times during the regular season. Calgary posted a record of 1-4-2-1 including a 1-1-2-0 record at the ‘Dome. Four of their last five meetings were decided by just a single goal. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 2a), Andrei Molgachev (4g, 1a) and Kale Dach (1g, 4a) led the Hitmen with five points each while Julien Maze (2g, 2a), Rylan Ng (3g, 1a), Luc Trevors (2g, 2a) Landon Amrheim (1g, 3a), Ben MacBeath (1g, 3a) and Ethan Moore (1g, 3a) all notched four. Markus Ruck (3g, 11a) was the top performing Tiger with 14 points. Yaroslav Bryzgalov (4g, 5a) and Liam Ruck (4g, 5a) were next with nine points each. Overall, Medicine Hat outshot Calgary 256-228. The Hitmen scored six powerplay goals and the Tigers counted seven.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Hitmen goaltender Eric Tu is fourth in the WHL Playoffs in goals against average (2.08) and tied for fourth in save percentage (.930)
WHL AWARDS: Hitmen teammates Ben MacBeath and Kale Dach are both Eastern Conference nominees for WHL Rookie of the Year. Axel Hurtig is up for WHL Humanitarian of the Year while Dustin Friesen is a nominee for WHL Coach of the Year with GM Garry Davidson up for WHL Executive of the Year.
ALL-STAR SEASON: Hitmen forward Kale Dach has been named to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. Dach, who also took home Hitmen Player of the Year honours and the 3-Star Award this season, finished the regular season second in team scoring with 75 points (34g, 41a) in 63 games.
PLAYOFF DATA: This is the fourth time in WHL history but just the first time in 11 seasons there is a Hitmen/Tigers playoff series. Calgary has won twice.
2015: CGY 4 MH 1 Rd2: Travis Sanheim led the Hitmen with seven points (3g, 4a) including the double overtime series winner in Game 5. Adam Tambellini (2g, 4a) was next with six points while goaltender Mack Shields posted a .942 save percentage. Dryden Hunt (4g, 1a) topped the Tigers with five points.
2010: CGY 4 MH 2 Rd2: Kris Foucault (5g, 3a) powered the Hitmen with eight points including the series winner in overtime. Joel Broda (5g, 1a), Tyler Shattock (3g, 3a) and Brandon Kozun (2g, 4a) all had six points each with Martin Jones posting a 2.17 goals against average.
2007: MH 4 CGY 1 Rd3: Darren Helm (2g, 5a) led the Tigers with seven points. Derek Dorsett (4g, 2a) was next with six while Matt Keetley had a 1.78 goals against average. Alex Plante (2g, 2a) led the Hitmen with four points. Robin Figren (2g, 1a), Dan Mercer (2g, 1a) and Dylan Yeo (1g, 2a) all tallied three.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 147-122. The Hitmen competed in 49 series prior to this one. They have won 29 and lost 20. Calgary is 35-25 all-time in post-season overtime games.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinitely).
UPCOMING GAMES: The series takes Tuesday off before returning to Scotiabank Saddledome for Game 4 on Wednesday, Apr. 15. It’s another 7:00 p.m. start in Calgary with fans invited to take advantage of the 60 minute $6 Hitmen Happy Hour which begins when doors open at 6:00 p.m.
