PREVIEW: GAME 2 vs BRANDON | 03.29.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen are back on home ice tonight to host the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 2 of their Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s Sunday Funday, presented by Brookfield Residential where fans can enjoy $6 food and drink deals all game long, $3 sips and snacks plus Face Painting and the Fun Zone on the West Concourse. Fans can also watch today’s game for FREE on Victory+ or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The WHL Playoffs are presented by Nutrien. Calgary took the opener Friday night with a thrilling 1-0 triple overtime triumph. Ethan Moore scored the game winner on a pass from Caine Wilke, 5:11 into the third overtime period. Both goaltenders were terrific, making a combined 113 saves. Hitmen netminder Eric Tu turned aside all 49 shots he faced, including a penalty shot, to record his first career WHL Playoff shutout while Wheat Kings goalie Filip Ruzicka stopped 64 shots in a game that lasted 4 hours and 24 minutes, ending at 11:27 p.m. local time.
SERIES SCHEDULE: The Hitmen have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Quarter Final with the Best-of-Seven Round 1 series a 2-3-2 format.
| Game 1 | Hitmen 1 Wheat Kings 0 OT3 | CGY leads the series 1-0. | ||
| Game 2 | Sunday, March 29 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 3 | Tuesday, March 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 4 | Thursday, April 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 5* | Friday, April 3 | 6:30 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 6* | Sunday, April 5 | 5:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 7* | Tuesday, April 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| *Indicates if necessary. Times listed in Mountain Time. | ||||
GAME 1 STATS: Ethan Moore led all Hitmen with seven shots on goal Friday night. Julien Maze and Kale Dach were next with five shots each. Luke Mistelbacher topped the Wheat Kings with seven shots. In the face-off circle, Calgary went a combined 68-117 on draws, clicking at 58.1%. Harrison Lodewyk (25), Kale Dach (16), Ethan Moore (13) and Andrei Molgachev (10) all won at least 10 face-offs.
BEEN A WHILE: Friday’s Game 1 was Calgary’s first 1-0 playoff result in nearly 20 years. On April 8, 1998, the Hitmen blanked Swift Current 1-0 in a series clinching Game 7 with that contest needing only 60 minutes. Friday game was also the longest home ice playoff game in franchise history at 105:11. Overall it was less than a minute shy of breaking the club record set by Jordan Krestanovich who scored 6:05 into triple overtime on the road in Kamloops May 5, 1999.
STREAKIN’: Dating back to the regular season, Ethan Moore (2g, 1a) has scored in back-to-back games. Ben MacBeath (1g, 9a) saw his career high tying six-game point streak end in Game 1 while two-game point streaks for Blake Vanek (2g, 3a) and Ty Meunier (1g, 2a) were also halted.
FAST FACTS: The Hitmen are the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference after an 85-point regular season which saw the club post a record of 38-21-8-1. Brandon is the #5 seed, finishing their schedule with 82 points following a 40-26-2-0 campaign.
PLAYOFF DEBUT: A total of 10 Hitmen played their first ever Western Hockey League playoff game on Friday night in the series opener. The Hitmen have a combined 118 games of playoff experience while Brandon has 132. Harrison Lodewyk leads Calgary with 22 post-season games played. Ethan Moore with 17 and Julien Maze with 13 round out the top three.
REGULAR SEASON VS. BRANDON: Calgary picked up five of a possible eight points during their regular season series with the Wheat Kings, posting a record of 2-1-1-0. The road team won all four games with no shortage of scoring as the two clubs combined for 28 goals with each team scoring 14 times. Ben MacBeath (6a) led the Hitmen with six points while Julien Maze (3g, 1a), Andrei Molgachev (2g, 2a), Ethan Moore (2g, 2a) and Caine Wilke (1g, 3a) all tallied four points each. Jaxon Jacobson (4g, 3a) was the top performer for Brandon with seven points. Luke Mistelbacher (1g, 5a) was next with six.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Nov. 2/25 in BDN: Hitmen 3 Wheat Kings 1…Calgary scored once in every period getting a goal and assist each from Kale Dach and Brandon Gorzynski.
Dec. 19/25 in CGY: Wheat Kings 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Calgary erased a 2-0 deficit before Joby Baumuller scored the winner 2:25 into extra time.
Feb. 6/26 at BDN: Hitmen 5 Wheat Kings 4…The Hitmen erased a 4-1 third period deficit.
Mar. 11/26 in CGY: Wheat Kings 6 Hitmen 4…Brandon broke a 3-3 third period tie scoring twice in the first 11 minutes.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 153 BDN 88 Power Plays: CGY 8-15 (53.3%) BDN 2-9 (22.2%)
PLAYOFF DATA: This is the eighth time in WHL history but just the first time in 11 seasons the Hitmen and Wheat Kings will square off in a playoff series. Brandon has won four times with Calgary taking three.
1998: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd3: Wheat Kings were led by Stefan Cherneski with nine points (6g, 3a). Brad Mehalko topped the Hitmen with seven points (1g, 6a).
2005: BDN 4 CGY 3 Rd1: Lance Monych (5g, 2a) & Derek LeBlanc (4g, 3a) led Brandon with seven points each. Ryan Getzlaf led Calgary with nine (3g, 6a).
2007: CGY 4 BDN 2 Rd2: Derek LeBlanc was on the Hitmen this time and led the way with 11 points (5g, 6a). Among his work was a new WHL record for fastest overtime goal, scoring 8 seconds into Game 5. Codey Burki was the top Wheat King with six points (5g, 1a).
2009: CGY 4 BDN 0 Rd3: Kris Foucault was Calgary’s top performer with seven points (3g, 4a). Matt Calvert led Brandon with five points (32g, 3a).
2010: CGY 4 BDN 0 Rd3: Brandon Kozun led the way for Calgary with eight points (2g, 6a). Matt Calvert propelled Brandon with five points (4g, 1a).
2012: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd1: Alessio Bertaggia drove the Wheat Kings attack with six points (3g, 3a). Collin Bowman led Calgary with five points (5a).
2015: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd3: John Quenneville pilled up 10 points (6g, 4a) to lead Brandon. Adam Tambellini notched five (4g, 1a) for the Hitmen.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 144-120. The Hitmen competed in 48 series prior to this one. They have won 28 and lost 20. Calgary is 34-24 all-time in post-season overtime games.
2025 PLAYOFF REWIND: Last season the Hitmen grabbed Game 2 in their first round series with Saskatoon, skating to a 5-1 win over the visiting Blades to take a 2-0 series lead. Tanner Howe and Brandon Gorzynski led the charge with a goal and an assist each while Ben Kindel chipped in a pair of assists. Calgary outshot Saskatoon 48-23 and received a 22-save performance from goaltender Anders Miller.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinitely).
UPCOMING GAMES: The series shifts to Virden, Manitoba’s Tundra Oil & Gas Place this week for the next three games beginning on Tuesday, Mar. 31. Game time is 7:00 p.m. CST/6:00 p.m. MT. Game 4 is then scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 2 with Game 5, if necessary, the following night on Friday, Apr. 3
