GAME 5 PREVIEW: CALGARY AT RED DEER
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen head up the QEII tonight to face the Red Deer Rebels in Game 5 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Peavey Mart Centrium. The Rebels took a 3-1 series lead with a 6-1 victory on the road in Game 4 Wednesday at Scotiabank Saddledome. After Ethan Moore opened the scoring for Calgary early in the second period, Red Deer counted six unanswered over the final 32 minutes with three coming on the power play and two shorthanded. Defenceman Mats Lindgren led the way for the visitors with four assists while Ben King (2g, 1a) and Jayden Grubbe (3a) both notched three points each. The Rebels outshot the Hitmen 41-37 in a game that saw a combined 18 power plays. The Hitmen went 1-11 and Red Deer 3-7.
COMEBACK TRAIL: Twice in franchise history the Hitmen have rebounded from a 3-1 playoff series deficit to win. In the 2010 post-season Calgary trailed Moose Jaw before bouncing back to defeat the Warriors in seven games of their opening round series. During the 1998 WHL Playoffs, the Hitmen fell behind 3-1 in their second round series with Swift Current before rattling off three straight victories to complete the thrilling comeback.
2023 WHL Playoffs: Round 1 Schedule:
The Hitmen and Rebels opening round playoff series is a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
| Game | Visitor | Home | Result / Date | Series / Time | |
| 1 | Calgary | @ | Red Deer | Rebels 3 Hitmen 0 | Rebels lead series 1-0 |
| 2 | Calgary | @ | Red Deer | Hitmen 2 Rebels 1 OT | Series tied 1-1 |
| 3 | Red Deer | @ | Calgary | Rebels 4 Hitmen 2 | Rebels lead series 2-1 |
| 4 | Red Deer | @ | Calgary | Rebels 6 Hitmen 1 | Rebels lead series 3-1 |
| 5 | Calgary | @ | Red Deer | Friday, April 7 | 7:00 p.m. |
| 6 * | Red Deer | @ | Calgary | Sunday, April 9 | 2:00 p.m. |
| 7 * | Calgary | @ | Red Deer | Tuesday, April 11 | 7:00 p.m. |
*If necessary
GAME 4 STATS: Oliver Tulk led the Hitmen with five shots on goal while Keagan Slaney, Maxim Muranov and Carter Yakemchuk all tallied four. Ben King notched a game-high eight shots to top Red Deer. In the face-off circle, Calgary went a 37-71 (52.1) for their best performance of the series. Red Deer’s Jayden Grubbe leads the WHL in face-off wins this post season. Through four games he has gone 70-118 (59.3%) on draws.
SERIES NOTES: The team that scores first is 1-3 while the road team is 3-1…Red Deer has outshot Calgary in all four games and a combined 162-138 overall…Nine Hitmen have at least one point with Carter MacAdams posting a team-high three points (1g, 2a). For Red Deer, 14 Rebels have hit the scoresheet with Kai Uchacz (4g, 2a) the team leader with six…There have been a combined 44 power plays so far for an average of 11 per game…Tonight is the fifth game in eight days which has seen the two teams play a total of 256 minutes and 42 seconds…A total of 21 different Hitmen have made their WHL Playoff debut this series…Brayden Peters has made at least 33 saves in all four games.
STREAKS: Ethan Moore (1g, 1a) and Carter Yakemchuk (2a) have points in back-to-back games. Carter MacAdams (1g, 2a) saw his two-game point streak snapped in Game 4. Six Hitmen have at least one shot on goal in every game of the series in Trey Patterson, Grayden Siepmann, David Adaszynski, Carter MacAdams, Carter Yakemchuk and Brandon Whynott. Yakemchuk is the overall team leader with 15 shots so far. Oliver Tulk is next with 14.
GAME 5 FACTS: The Hitmen are 18-18 all-time in Game 5’s.
WHL LEADERBOARD: Hitmen goaltender Brayden Peters leads the league in playoff saves with 146. He is also fifth in minutes played at 246…Calgary’s penalty kill ranks seventh at 87%…Maxim Muranov and Carter MacAdams are in a four-way tie for fifth in penalty minutes with 10 each.
FAST FACTS: Combining for 162 points in the regular season (68g, 94a), Hitmen forwards Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Sean Tschigerl and Jacob Wright all missed Game 4 due to injury. Fiddler-Schultz also missed Game 3 while Wright, who has only played five games since January 20, has yet to appear in the series…Hitmen rookie defenceman Vojteck Husinecky made his WHL Playoff debut in Game 4 on Wednesday night skating as a forward while goaltender Ethan Buenaventura also got his first taste of playoff hockey playing the final 7 minutes and 51 seconds…Calgary is one of 12 teams still contending for the Ed Chynoweth Cup as Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Kelowna and Vancouver were all swept in the opening round.
HITMEN CAREER PLAYOFF LEADERBOARD:
Games Played: Michael Stone 62
Goals: Pavel Brendl 35
Assists: Brandon Kozun and Brad Moran 48
Points: Brad Moran 82
Wins: Martin Jones 32
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 136-115. The Hitmen have competed in 45 series prior to this one. They have won 27 and lost 18. Calgary is 31-23 all-time in post-season overtime games.
