ANOTHER OT VICTORY ON THE ROAD
It was a goal fitting to be scored by Brady Brassart.
In the opening games of the first two rounds versus Swift Current and Red Deer, the 19-year-old forward sniped hat tricks in two Hitmen victories – the only two times in his WHL career that he has sent hats flying.
No, he didn’t make it three in a row, but he was the overtime hero in a 3-2 Hitmen win over the defending WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
Less than two minutes into the extra frame, rookie Jake Virtanen threw the puck from inside the blueline on Oil Kings goaltender Laurent Brossoit. The puck bounced in front of the crease and Brassart was there to pounce on the loose puck, giving the Hitmen their fourth victory in extra time this post-season.
“(Virtanen) bulled through their D and tried to go backdoor to Sly,” Brassart said. “The D broke it up and it was just sitting there. I was trying to do my best to get on net as quick as I can.
Calgary now owns the 1-0 lead in the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship best-of-seven series, with Game 2 going Friday night at Rexall Place in Edmonton. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
In what was expected to be a tight defensive battle, the Hitmen opened up the scoring early in the first frame.
Skating down on the rush, Swedish import Victor Rask sniped a shot low glove side on Brossoit that hit the back of the net less than 90 seconds in. It extended his point streak to 17 games, dating back to early March.
It was one of three shots on net by the Hitmen in the first stanza, as both teams played tight defensively.
Calgary doubled their lead three minutes into the second period, with forward Zane Jones redirecting a Spencer Humphries shot from the point up and over Brossoit. The Calgary Flames’ prospect then shut the door on the Hitmen for the rest of regulation.
Former Hitmen player Trevor Cheek got the Oil Kings on the board, wiring a wrist shot from the slot around the 13-minute mark of the second period.
And Henrik Samuelsson tied up the game arund the 13-minute mark of the third period, finishing off a tic-tac-toe play involving Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck.
“We did a decent job of keeping stuff to the outside,” opined head coach Mike Williamson. “They did have some pretty good chances that our goalie bailed us out of. They are going to get those looks, they are a good hockey team and they’ve got some pretty dynamic offensive guys.
“We need Driedgs to play well every night and he has so far.”
After the tight 60 minutes, overtime was free-wheeling with a few opportunites in a short time frame.
Just 12 seconds in, Curtis Lazar sniped a shot from inside the circle that clanged off the post and out of danger.
Shortly after, a shot came from the point that Driedger was able to get a pad on.
“(Lazar’s) shot was a pretty close one and then I think the hockey gods must have owed me another one because I didn’t even know there was shot from the point and it just hit my pads. Sometimes you get lucky,” Driedger said.
All it did was help set up the overtime winner from Brassart, who has now scored all seven of his playoff goals in series opening games.
“It was definitely nice to get the win in the end, but I don’t think we played our best game of the night,” said defenceman Alex Roach. “I think we will be seeing a different team tomorrow.”
Driedger made 33 saves in the victory, while Brossoit turned away 16 shots.
Game 2 goes Friday night at Rexall Place. It’ll be aired live on Shaw TV starting at 7 p.m.
