GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Edmonton – 01.31.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (29-12-3-2), riding a six-game point streak, close a home-and-home set with the Oil Kings (25-18-1-2) tonight in Edmonton. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Rogers Place. The Hitmen took the opener at home on Wednesday by a score of 6-0. Daniel Hauser made 25 saves for his 13th career shutout while six different goal scorers found the back of the net in Ethan Merner, Connor Hvidston, Carson Birnie, Hunter Aura, Oliver Tulk and Brandon Gorzynski. Merner’s was his first career WHL tally while Hvidston added a pair of assists for a team-leading three points on a night where the Hitmen fired 47 shots on goal and killed all eight Edmonton power place chances.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 63 points, three points ahead of Lethbridge but three points back of the front-running Medicine Hat Tigers. Edmonton is fifth with 53 points, one point ahead of Saskatoon.
EDMONTON: Tonight marks the fifth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 3-1 against the Oil Kings, having won the last three. The winning team has scored four or more goals in all three victories. Connor Hvidston (1g, 5a) leads Calgary in the season series with six points while Hunter Aura (3g, 2a) and Carter Yakemchuk (2g, 3a) both have five. Gavin Hodnett (1g, 2a) and Blake Fiddler (3a) are the top performers for Edmonton with three points each. The Hitmen are 1-1 in Edmonton this season. The Oil Kings return to Calgary for their next meeting on Friday, Feb. 7.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 28/24 in EDM: Oil Kings 4 Hitmen 1…Alex Worthington made 33 saves for Edmonton in a first-star performance.
Nov. 29/24 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 2…Carter Yakemchuk broke a 2-2 tie for Calgary with 2:57 remaining.
Jan. 1/25 at EDM: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 1…The Hitmen scored four unanswered goals as Carter Yakemchuk notched three points (1g, 2a).
Jan. 29/25 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 0…Calgary built period leads of 2-0 and 4-0.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 146 EDM 109 Power Plays: CGY 2-16 (12.5%) EDM 2-21 (9.5%)
STREAKS: Oliver Tulk (5g, 5a) is on a six game point streak and has points (22g, 33a) in 26 of his last 27 games…Daniel Hauser has won his last four starts…Anders Miller is 5-0-0-1 in his last six starts with a 1.64 goals against average and .933 save percentage…Carson Birnie (1g, 1a), Carter Yakemchuk (1g, 3a) and David Adaszynski (1g, 1a) all have points in back-to-back games…Ben Kindel is currently on the WHL’s longest road point streak of the season with points in 15 straight games away from the ‘Dome…Tanner Howe (2g, 2a) saw his three-game point streak end Wednesday against Edmonton.
NHL RADAR: Three Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings of the top North American skaters and goalies eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft. Among the skaters, Ben Kindel is ranked 20th with Brandon Gorzynski on the document 81st. In the goaltending department, Anders Miller is 19th. Overall, a total of 66 WHL players cracked the rankings.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: Calgary is riding a five-game road point streak having gone 4-0-0-1 in that span. Overall, the Hitmen are 11-9-2-1 on the road this season. Their 25 road points are tied for sixth most in the WHL. Edmonton is 15-7-0-1 at Rogers Place.
HAUSER’S HISTORIC CLIMB: Hitmen goaltender Daniel Hauser picked up career victory 110 on Wednesday against Edmonton. He is now four wins behind Griffen Outhouse who sits ninth on the WHL’s all time regular season wins list with 114.
FAST FACTS: Calgary’s 29 victories have eclipsed their 28-win total from last season when they missed the playoffs by two points. The Hitmen have outshot their opponent 35 times this season…Calgary has scored six goals in each of their last two games and in three of their last four contests…The Hitmen have moved up one spot this week in the CHL Top-10 Rankings, now sitting seventh…Since starting the season with a record of 2-4, Calgary has gone 27-8-3-2 including 11-1-0-1 in their last 13…The Hitmen are 10-8-1-2 against teams from the Central Division…Calgary is +46 in goals for and against…Tonight is Calgary’s 14 game in January, they face a 12-game February with seven of those games on the road and five at home.
WHL LEADERBOARD: The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-5 scorers as Oliver Tulk is fifth with 76 points while Ben Kindel is in a two-way tie for third place with Kyle Chyzowski of Portland, both with 78 points.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Connor Hvidston is two points away from 200…Chase Valliant is two games shy of 100…Oliver Tulk is tied for seventh all-time in franchise scoring with Mark Kastelic at 235 points, two points behind Ryan White who sits sixth with 237…Tulk became the sixth member of the Hitmen 100 goal-club on Wednesday against Edmonton. He is now 10 goals behind Brandon Segal (110) for fifth place on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list…Ben Kindel needs four assists for 100…Carter Yakemchuk reached 100 assists last Sunday against Red Deer while Dax Williams played career game 150 that same night…Daniel Hauser eclipsed 4,000 saves on Jan. 25 in Lethbridge.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, Indefinately).
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (1-1-0-0), October (4-4-2-1), November (7-3-1-0), December (6-3-0-0), January (11-1-0-1).
SPECIAL TEAMS TRACKER: The Hitmen power play is 17th in the WHL at 20.6% while the penalty kill is 11th at 76.5%.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary next four games are all at home starting Sunday, Feb. 2 against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. Game time is 2:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome for the PAW Patrol game, part of RE/MAX Presents Nickelodeon Nights in support of the Children’s Miracle Network. The Hitmen will wear PAW Patrol themed jerseys which will be sold at elevateacutions.com to support the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Co-branded PAW Patrol and Hitmen youth t-shirts will also be available for purchase from the CGY Team Stores. The first 1,000 fans in the building when doors open at 1:00 p.m. will receive a FREE mini stick while 2,000 Hitmen & PAW Patrol themed posters will also be given away. Watch for Fire and EMS First Responder vehicles on the west tarmac and for PAW Patrol characters Chase and Marshall who will be in attendance. There will also be puppies on the concourse from the Alberta Animals Rescue Crew Society (AARCS). Keep in mind it’s another Sunday Funday presented by Brookfield Residential. In addition to $3 sips and snacks all game long, look for family fun entertainment on the west concourse plus $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day and a post-game family skate.