Round 2 Game 4 Preview: Calgary vs Medicine Hat | 04.15.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: After a day off, the Eastern Conference Semi-Final series between the Calgary Hitmen and Medicine Hat Tigers resumes tonight with Game 4 in the Stampede City. It’s a 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink 60-minute Hitmen Happy Hour, which begins when doors open at 6:00 p.m. Fans can also watch for FREE on Victory+ or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The 2026 WHL Playoffs are presented by Nutrien. The Tigers lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 after a 5-2 road victory on Monday night. Liam Ruck led the charge for the visitors, scoring a hat-trick while his twin brother Markus counted the game winner, giving the Tigers a 3-2 second period lead at 11:51. Ethan Moore on the power play, and Wyatt Pisarczyk at even strength, both scored for the Hitmen pushing the home side out to first period leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Calgary outshot the Tigers 36-29 but were unable to find the tying goal in the third period before Medicine Hat found the empty net twice.
SERIES SCHEDULE: The Tigers have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final with the Best-of-Seven Round 2 series a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
| Game 1 | Friday, April 10 | Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT | MH leads the series 1-0 | |
| Game 2 | Saturday, April 11 | Tigers 4 Hitmen 3 | MH leads the series 2-0 | |
| Game 3 | Monday, April 13 | Tigers 5 Hitmen 2 | MH leads the series 3-0 | |
| Game 4 | Wednesday, April 15 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 5* | Friday, April 17 | 6:00 p.m. | Co-op Place, Medicine Hat | |
| Game 6* | Sunday, April 19 | 4:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 7* | Tuesday, April 21 | 7:00 p.m. | Co-op Place, Medicine Hat | |
| *Indicates if necessary. Times listed in Mountain Time. | ||||
GAME 3 STATS: Julien Maze led the Hitmen with seven shots on goal Monday night. Ethan Moore was next with six while Andrei Molgachev recorded four. Liam Ruck paced the Tigers with five shots. Noah Davidson was next with four. Calgary went a combined 37-65 on draws, clicking at 56.9%. Harrison Lodewyk led the charge, going 21-29 (72.4%).
SERIES NOTES: Ethan Moore (3g, 1a) and Caine Wilke (1g, 3a) are tied for the Hitmen team lead in scoring with four points each. Kale Dach (1g, 1a), Wyatt Pisarczyk (1g, 1a) and Julien Maze (2a) are all next with two points each. Medicine Hat has been led by Liam Ruck (3g, 1a), Bryce Pickford (2g, 2a) and Andrew Basha (4a) who all have four points each. On the special team’s front, Calgary is 1-11 on the powerplay (9.1%) with Medicine Hat 1-4 (25%). Of the 199 total minutes played this series Calgary has held the lead for 43 minutes and 26 seconds with Medicine Hat in front for 43 minutes and 39 seconds. The shot clock is remarkably close as well with Medicine Hat having recorded 96 shots to Calgary’s 95. Overall, the Tigers have outscored the Hitmen 12-7.
STREAKIN’: Dating back to the regular season, Ethan Moore (9g, 3a) is on an eight-game goal scoring streak. Caine Wilke (1g, 5a) is on a four-game point streak. Wyatt Pisarczyk (1g, 1a) has points in back-to-back games.
PRESSURE COOKER: Hitmen goaltender Eric Tu has faced two penalty shots in the 2026 WHL Playoffs and has stopped them both. In Game 3 on Monday Tu turned aside Noah Davidson in the first period while also stopping Brandon’s Jimmy Egan in double overtime in Game 1 of the opening round series.
KEEPING IT CLOSE: Of Calgary’s seven playoff games, three have been decided in overtime with the four others all within a goal in the final two minutes before three of those games were sealed with empty net tallies.
DID YOU KNOW? Ethan Moore’s eight playoff goals lead the WHL Playoffs with his four game winners also tops in the league.
REGULAR SEASON REWIND: The Hitmen finished the regular season as the #4 seed in the WHL’s Eastern Conference posting a record of 38-21-8-1, good for 85 points. Medicine Hat was the #2 seed with 108 points after going 50-10-5-3.
MEDICINE HAT: The Hitmen and Tigers met eight times during the regular season. Calgary posted a record of 1-4-2-1 including a 1-1-2-0 record at the ‘Dome. Four of their last five meetings were decided by just a single goal. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 2a), Andrei Molgachev (4g, 1a) and Kale Dach (1g, 4a) led the Hitmen with five points each while Julien Maze (2g, 2a), Rylan Ng (3g, 1a), Luc Trevors (2g, 2a) Landon Amrheim (1g, 3a), Ben MacBeath (1g, 3a) and Ethan Moore (1g, 3a) all notched four. Markus Ruck (3g, 11a) was the top performing Tiger with 14 points. Yaroslav Bryzgalov (4g, 5a) and Liam Ruck (4g, 5a) were next with nine points each. Overall, Medicine Hat outshot Calgary 256-228. The Hitmen scored six powerplay goals and the Tigers counted seven.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Hitmen goaltender Eric Tu is fourth in the WHL Playoffs in goals against average (2.20) and tied for fourth in save percentage (.925) with Michal Orsulak of the Prince Albert Raiders.
WHL AWARDS: Hitmen teammates Ben MacBeath and Kale Dach are both Eastern Conference nominees for WHL Rookie of the Year. Axel Hurtig is up for WHL Humanitarian of the Year while Dustin Friesen is a nominee for WHL Coach of the Year with GM Garry Davidson up for WHL Executive of the Year.
ALL-STAR SEASON: Hitmen forward Kale Dach has been named to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. Dach, who also took home Hitmen Player of the Year honours and the 3-Star Award this season, finished the regular season second in team scoring with 75 points (34g, 41a) in 63 games.
PLAYOFF DATA: This is the fourth time in WHL history but just the first time in 11 seasons there is a Hitmen/Tigers playoff series. Calgary has won twice.
2015: CGY 4 MH 1 Rd2: Travis Sanheim led the Hitmen with seven points (3g, 4a) including the double overtime series winner in Game 5. Adam Tambellini (2g, 4a) was next with six points while goaltender Mack Shields posted a .942 save percentage. Dryden Hunt (4g, 1a) topped the Tigers with five points.
2010: CGY 4 MH 2 Rd2: Kris Foucault (5g, 3a) powered the Hitmen with eight points including the series winner in overtime. Joel Broda (5g, 1a), Tyler Shattock (3g, 3a) and Brandon Kozun (2g, 4a) all had six points each with Martin Jones posting a 2.17 goals against average.
2007: MH 4 CGY 1 Rd3: Darren Helm (2g, 5a) led the Tigers with seven points. Derek Dorsett (4g, 2a) was next with six while Matt Keetley had a 1.78 goals against average. Alex Plante (2g, 2a) led the Hitmen with four points. Robin Figren (2g, 1a), Dan Mercer (2g, 1a) and Dylan Yeo (1g, 2a) all tallied three.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 147-123. The Hitmen competed in 49 series prior to this one. They have won 29 and lost 20. Calgary is 35-25 all-time in post-season overtime games.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinitely), Ben MacBeath (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Julien Maze (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
UPCOMING GAMES: The series will shift back to Medicine Hat for Game 5, if necessary, on Friday, Apr. 17. Note the 6:00 p.m. start time at Co-op Place.
