GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Medicine Hat | 02.28.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (33-15-8-1) close the month of February tonight on the road in Medicine Hat against the Tigers (40-9-5-3). Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place with fans invited to watch the game for FREE on Victory+. It’s the back half of a home-and-home set with the Tigers posting 3-2 overtime victory on the road last night. Andrei Molgachev, with his 24th and Julien Maze with his team-leading 33rd, both scored for the Hitmen who held period leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Medicine Hat received the tying goal from Josh Van Mulligan with 3:03 left in regulation and the game winner from Bryce Pickford 2:33 into the extra session. The Tigers outshot Calgary 32-20 with Eric Tu making 29 saves in the Hitmen net while Medicine Hat’s Carter Casey turned aside 18 shots to record the win.
WHERE THEY STAND: Calgary is fourth in the Eastern Conference at 75 points, four points up on fifth place Brandon and four points behind third place Edmonton. The Hitmen have two games in hand on the Wheat Kings and one in hand on the Oil Kings. Medicine Hat is second in the conference, leading Edmonton by 11 points but trailing Prince Albert by four points for first overall.
PLAYOFF BOUND: For the second season in a row the Calgary Hitmen will play in the post season. They mathematically cemented their berth last Saturday night and sit sixth overall in the WHL Standings with a .661 winning percentage.
MEDICINE HAT: Tonight is the eighth and final regular season meeting between the two Central Division rivals. Their last four meetings have been decided by just a single goal, but Calgary is 1-3-2-1 against Medicine Hat having been outscored by a combined 32-20. Dating back to last season, the Hitmen have just one win in their last 12 games against the Tigers but have picked up at least a point in six of those games with an overall record of 1-6-2-3. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 2a) and Andrei Molgachev (4g, 1a) lead the Hitmen with five points each while Rylan Ng (3g, 1a), Landon Amrheim (1g, 3a), Ben MacBeath (1g, 3a) and Kale Dach (4a) all have four. Markus Ruck (3g, 9a) is the top performing Tiger with 12 points. Liam Ruck (3g, 5a) is next with eight.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 4/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 1…Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (2g, 1a) and Yaroslav Bryzgalov (1g, 2a) notched three points each.
Oct. 10/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Tigers 2…Eric Tu made 38 saves for Calgary while the Hitmen scored four even strength goals.
Nov. 19/25 in CGY: Tigers 6 Hitmen 2…The Tigers built leads of 2-0 and 5-1 en route to the win.
Nov. 22/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 6 Shootout…Medicine Hat overcame a 6-3 second period deficit.
Nov. 23/25 in CGY: Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Markus Ruck scored the winner 3:42 into the extra session and Carter Casey made 34 saves.
Jan. 20/26 in MH: Tigers 4 Hitmen 3…The Tigers built a 4-1 lead nearly 49 minutes into the game before a Hitmen rally came up short.
Feb. 27/26 in CGY: Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Medicine Hat held the Hitmen to 20 shots and overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 204 MH 234 Power Plays: CGY 6-28 (21.4%) MH 6-21 (28.6%)
STREAKIN’: Julien Maze (2g, 2a) is on a three-game point streak while Landon Amrheim (1g, 3a) has points in back-to-back games. Aidan Hesse has won his last two starts. Kale Dach (4g,5a) saw his six-game point streak end last night against the Tigers while a four-game point streak for Calder Hamilton (1g, 3a) and a two-game point streak for Hunter Aura (1g, 1a) were also snapped.
FAST FACTS: Calgary has picked up points in 10 of their last 12 games (8-2-2-0). The Hitmen are 15-7-3-1 against the Central Division. Ethan Moore has 69 career goals, placing him in sole possession of 22nd place on the club’s all-time regular season goal scoring list. Moore is just one goal behind Carter Yakemchuk (70) who is 21st. Two Hitmen have recorded hat-tricks this season, Andrei Molgachev at home in Oct. against Spokane and Kale Dale on the road in Saskatoon in Nov. Counting tonight, Calgary has 11 games left on their 68-game regular season schedule. Only Prince Albert (146) has surrendered fewer goals than the Hitmen (172) in the Eastern Conference.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Five of Calgary’s last six games have been decided by a single goal. Overall, the Hitmen have played 26 one-goal games this season, picking up points in 20 of those with a total record of 11-6-8-1.
30-GOAL CLUB: The Hitmen have a pair of 30-goal scorers on the roster. Julien Maze has 33 and Kale Dach 31. One season ago Calgary had a trio of 30-goal snipers. Oliver Tulk led the way with 38 followed by Ben Kindel with 35 and Carson Wetsch who tallied 33.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which saw its 12-game goal scoring streak snapped last night against Medicine Hat leads the WHL at 32.7%…Of note, Calgary has scored 66 power play goals after scoring 60 goals all of last season with the man advantage. The Hitmen penalty kill is fifth at 80.3%.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 16-7-4-1 on the road, having picked up points in six of the last eight games (5-2-1). Medicine Hat is 23-3-2-1 at home where they are riding a two-game winning streak.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Julien Maze is three goals shy of 50. Eric Tu is 60 minutes played shy of 3,000. Ethan Moore played career game 250 last night against the Tigers, becoming just the 23rd player in franchise history to hit that milestone. Aidan Hesse is 20 saves shy of 500. Andrei Molgachev and Keaton Jundt both played their 50th career games on Tuesday against Moose Jaw.
PROSPECT WATCH: Donagh Esler-Twiss, Calgary’s fourth round pick, 86th overall, in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft is playing U17 Prep in the CSSHL with Shawnigan Lake School. The 15-year-old goaltender is 5-8-1 with a 3.83 goals against average and .899 save percentage.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Harrison Lodewyk (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
HITMEN VS: BDN (2-0-1-0), EDM (4-1), EVT (1-0), KAM (0-1), KEL (0-1), LET (4-2-1-0), MH (1-4-1-1), MJ (1-2), PEN (0-0-1-0), POR (0-1), PA (3-0), PG (1-0), RD (6-1), REG (2-0-1-0), SAS (2-1-1-0), SEA (1-0), SPO (1-0), SC (2-1), TC (1-0), VAN (1-0), VIC (0-0-1-0), WEN (0-0).
ALUMNI WATCH: Connor Hvidston is playing in the NCAA with the Colorado College Tigers. The 21-year-old forward has 16 points (4g, 12a) in 32 games. Hvidston spent last season with the Hitmen, appearing in all 68 games, recording 56 points (19g, 37a).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary is back on the road this week, heading to Saskatchewan for a pair of games beginning Tuesday, Mar. 3 in Moose Jaw before a Wednesday, Mar. 4 stop in Swift Current against the Broncos. The Hitmen will then return home for three in a row, starting Friday, Mar. 6 against the Eastern Conference leading Prince Albert Raiders. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.
