Game Preview: Hitmen At Giants – Feb. 21/20
The drive for five is on.
It’s been quite the trip so far for the Hitmen with a perfect 3-0 mark as they head into Langley Friday night to take on the Vancouver Giants.
With four straight wins headed into the clash, the Hitmen will look to set a season-high five-game winning streak as the B.C. road swing nears closer to ending. Wednesday night saw the Hitmen comeback from a 2-1 deficit to top the Victoria Royals 3-2 in a shootout, as Mark Kastelic scored both markers in regulation while Orca Wiesblatt provided the shootout winner.
It was the second straight game to go beyond 60 minutes and also the second straight comeback win.
Highlights: Hitmen vs Royals Feb. 19
Extending the win streak won’t come easy, as the Giants have won 10 in a row jumping from 19-20-5-2 to now 29-20-5-2, just two points back of the Royals for second in the B.C. Division.
It’s a clash of two teams on fire, as the Hitmen are two points back of the Medicine Hat Tigers for third place in the Central Division thanks to the run they’ve been on. For most of the season, the Hitmen have seen themselves in the first Wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with how strong the division has been this year, but now they are within reach of cracking the top three.
There’s still a lot of time to further climb up and round out their game as the post-season inches closer.
Quick Hits
Carson Focht (3G, 2A) and Jett Woo (5A) lead the way with five points each while Mark Kastelic is next with four points (2G, 2A)
The last meeting between the clubs On Dec. 30 2018 saw the Hitmen beat the Giants 4-0 at the ‘Dome. Goaltender Jack McNaughton made 25 saves to blank Vancouver.
With 13 games remaining, the Hitmen are six points ahead of the pace last season when they owned a record of 29-21-4-1
Since the start of the New Year, Hitmen are a combined 15-7 and are 10-3 in their last 13 games
Milestone Tracker
Dakota Krebs is one game away from 300
Mark Kastelic is four points back of Cody Sylvester and Borys Protsenko, who share seventh spot with 229 points, on the clubs all-time points list. Kastelic is also one goal away from tying Protsenko for third on the clubs all-time goals list with 121.
Jackson van de Leest and Cael Zimmerman both need one point each to reach 50
2019/20 Stats Leaders
Hitmen
Goals: Mark Kastelic (32)
Assists: Stotts (37)
Points: Stotts (59)
Power Play Goals: Carson Focht (9)
Shots: Focht, Kastelic (194)
Top Goalie: Brayden Peters, 14-11-2, 2.54 GAA, 0.906 SV%
Giants
Leaders:
Goals: Tristen Nielsen (28)
Assists: Eric Florchuk (31)
Points: Nielsen (57)
Power Play Goals: Nielsen (9)
Shots: Nielsen (232)
Top Goalie: David Tendeck, 17-13-1-1, 2.21 GAA, .922 SV%
