Hitmen Bounce Back With Dominating Win
They needed a big performance and they did just that.
The Hitmen snapped a two-game losing streak with a dominating 7-3 win Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome over the Moose Jaw Warriors to improve to 5-2-1 on the season.
After surrendering the first goal of the contest seven minutes in, the Hitmen stormed back to score four unanswered goals and never looked back as they looked determined as ever to come away with the two points.
“We wanted to get back to the best version of ourselves,” head coach Steve Hamilton said. “We were more direct with our game and managed the game without trying to do too much. It’s all part of our growth, it was far from perfection but we had a good response.
“We were positive on the bench all night and our first period really set the tone for the game.”
Orca Wiesblatt had a team-leading three points with two goals and an assist while Carson Focht also scored a pair with Jonas Peterek, Sean Tschigerl and Mark Kastelic rounding out the scoring. Jack McNaughton needed only 13 saves to pick up his fourth win of the season. For Peterek, it was his first career WHL goal and first multi-point night.
Ryder Korczak struck twice for the Warriors while Jadon Joseph added the other marker as Moose Jaw dropped to .500 with now a 5-5 mark. Bailey Brkin made 39 saves in the loss.
After a disappointing loss on Thanksgiving Monday, it was a full 180 flip as the Hitmen controlled the pace of play and fired 93 shot attempts on goal to start the weekend on a strong note.
“We battled all week to get this result,” Wiesblatt said. “Our goal is to win every period and tonight showed that when we do that, we’re a hard team to deal with. It was nice to get back into the win column.
“You’re going to win a lot of games with that many shot attempts and the relentless pressure we played with all night.”
The line of Focht, Wiesblatt and Josh Prokop continued their early season magic, combining for six points in the win.
It’s been a line that has impressed since they were put together back in the beginning of the season, and with the rate they have been going, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it.
“We each bring something different to the table,” Focht said. “We’re skilled guys that see the ice well and have built that chemistry to click like we have. We have a good connection not just on the ice but off also and that’s huge in being successful as a line.
“I don’t think as a group we’re ever outmatched in terms of the speed and skill and each game really comes down to the little details and the battles in the defensive zone. We know Sunday will be more of the same and we just have to keep up this pace and be prepared to battle for the full 60 minutes.”
