Game Preview: Calgary at Edmonton – 03.15.24
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (26-29-7-1) wrap up a mini two-game road trip tonight by visiting the Oil Kings (24-36-3-1) in Edmonton. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Rogers Place. The Hitmen are coming off a full five-day break. Dating back to Feb. 2, Calgary had played 19 games in 38 days culminating with last Saturday’s 5-2 loss in Red Deer. Maximum Muranov and Keets Fawcett counted power play goals for the Hitmen while Oliver Tulk and Carter Yakemchuk both added a pair of assists. Tonight now begins a regular season ending stretch of five games in nine days for the Hitmen. Edmonton last played on Wednesday, thumping the Hurricanes 6-1 in Lethbridge. Adam Jecho powered the Oil Kings with four points (2g, 2a).
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen (60pts) are five points behind both Prince Albert (65pts) and Lethbridge (65pts) for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. All three clubs have five games left in their schedule. The Hurricanes are home to Red Deer tonight while the Raiders are in Regina. Edmonton (52pts) is 11th in the conference, eight points back of the Hitmen.
PLAYOFF PUSH: Counting tonight, the Hitmen have five games remaining in the regular season with two at home and three on the road. Their opponent breakdown is as follows; EDM, LET, SAS and SC 2X’s.
EDMONTON: Tonight marks the ninth and final regular season meeting between the two Central Division rivals with Calgary holding a 7-1 record including a 2-1 record at Rogers Place. They have outscored the Oil Kings by a combined 52-21. The two teams have combined for a remarkable 22 power play goals through the first eight games. Oliver Tulk (8g, 9a) leads all Hitmen in the season series with 17 points. Carter Yakemchuk (8g, 5a) is next with 13 while Carson Wetsch (9g, 3a) has 12. Gavin Hodnett (3g, 5a) is the top performing Oil King with eight points. Adam Jecho (3g, 4a) and Marc Lajoie (2g, 5a) are next with seven.
2023-24 SERIES RECAP
Nov. 10/23 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 1…Calgary built period leads of 3-0 and 4-1 while 10 different Hitmen notched at least a point.
Nov. 11/23 in EDM: Hitmen 10 Oil Kings 2…Sean Tschigerl, Carson Wetsch and Maxim Muranov all scored twice for Calgary.
Nov. 25/23 in CGY: Hitmen 7 Oil Kings 3…Carson Wetsch scored twice for Calgary.
Jan. 7/24 in CGY: Hitmen 5 Oil Kings 1…Ethan Buenaventura made 50 saves in a first-star performance.
Feb. 2/24 in EDM: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 5 OT…Carter Yakemchuk scored the game winner 3:57 into extra time.
Feb. 4/24 in CGY: Hitmen 8 Oil Kings 1…After the Oil Kings opened the scoring the Hitmen counted the next eight.
Feb. 21/24 in EDM: Oil Kings 5 Hitmen 4…Edmonton scored twice in the final 32.3 seconds to erase a 4-3 deficit.
Feb. 28/24 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 3…Oliver Tulk and Maxim Muranov both scored twice for Calgary.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 251 EDM 204 Power Plays: CGY 16-34 (47.1%) EDM 6-36 (16.7%)
STREAKS: Oliver Tulk (7g, 4a) is on a six-game point streak. Maxim Muranov (2g, 2a) has goals in back-to-back games and is riding a four-game point streak. Keets Fawcett (2g, 1a) has also scored in back-to-back games and is on a three-game point streak. Carson Wetsch (2g, 2a) saw his three-game point streak end last Saturday in Red Deer.
FAST FACTS: Calgary is 15-14-2-1 against the Central Division…Oliver Tulk is three shots away from 200 this season…Eight Hitmen, counting Sean Tschigerl who was dealt at the WHL Trade Deadline, have recorded 40 or more points this season. Last season only five players achieved that mark (Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Oliver Tulk, Sean Tschigerl, Carter Yakemchuk and Grayden Siepmann)…A total of 35 players have played at least one game for the Hitmen…Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura has made 30 or more saves in a game 28 times this season.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 8-19-4-0 on the road. Edmonton is 13-16-1-1 at home.
RECORD BOOKS: Carter Yakemchuk has established a new franchise record for most goals in a single season by a Hitmen defenceman with 26. He snapped the previous mark of 24 set by Jake Bean in the 2015-16 season.
DID YOU KNOW? The Hitmen have 12 rookies on their 23-man roster…Oliver Tulk’s team leading 38 goals are 12th in the WHL’s goal scoring race and are also the most by a Hitmen player since the 2019-20 season when Mark Kastelic also tallied 38 goals. Tulk’s team-leading 74 points place him 28th in the WHL points race…Since Feb. 16, Edmonton has posted a record of 8-4-1.
WHL TOP-10: Carter Yakemchuk leads the league in goals among defencemen with 26 while his 63-points rank fifth among blueliners…Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura is third in the WHL in saves with 1,479 and fourth in minutes played at 2,806…Ben Kindel is tied for fourth in rookie scoring with 56 points while Keets Fawcett is 10th with 44. Oliver Tulk is ninth in the WHL in faceoff wins with 674. The last time the Hitmen had two players finish Top-10 in WHL Rookie scoring was the 2011-12 season when Victor Rask (63pts) was third and Alex Gogolev (57pts) sixth.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: David Adaszynski (Upper Body, Out Indefinitely).
NHL RADAR: Five Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings for the 2024 NHL Draft among North American skaters. Carter Yakemchuk is ranked sixth, Carson Wetsch 44th, Keets Fawcett 163rd, Chase Valliant 195th and Dax Williams 211th.
WHL CAREER MILESTONES: Chase Valliant is one game shy of 50. Tyson Greenway is two points away from 100. Carter Yakemchuk needs one goal for 50. Oliver Tulk eclipsed 150 career points last Friday against Red Deer becoming the 27th player in franchise history to reach that milestone. Dax Williams played in career game 100 last Saturday in Red Deer while Fraser Leonard hit the 50-game mark the same night.
ALUMNI WATCH: Josh Prokop spent this past season playing U SPORTS Men’s Hockey with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The 24-year-old forward tied for the team lead in scoring with 29 points (14g, 15a) in 28 games. Prokop played three seasons with the Hitmen from 2018-2021 recording 88 points (34g, 54a) in 143 games.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary returns home on Sunday, Mar. 17 to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a 4:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s the last Sunday Funday of the regular season presented by Brookfield Residential. In addition to $3 sips and snacks specials all game long, look for family fun entertainment on the west concourse. There are also $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day and the RAM post-game family skate with Farley or fans can head up to the concourse for a post-game autograph session with the entire team.