Bowman Nets First Career Hat Trick
Collin Bowman scored his first goal as a member of the Calgary Hitmen, but it wouldn’t stop there. Bowman would net two more goals in the 7-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders, on the way to his first WHL hat trick.
“I haven’t scored since I got here and the shots just kept coming and thankfully the guys were teeing me up at the point and they were finding their way through,” said Bowman.
The Saturday night victory would put the Hitmen over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
“We have definitely been teetering right around there, its nice to hopefully get on a roll here and put some pressure on some teams above us and stay above .500 the whole way.
The Hitmen found themselves with some early penalty problems, as the Prince Albert Raiders went on four consecutive power plays. A combination of a solid defensive effort by special teams and tremendous goaltending allowed the Hitmen to come out of the period unscathed.
“I thought early on we had some good efforts by our penalty killers there. We were killing a lot of penalties there in the first period and that ended up being the difference. It ended up giving us some time to get our offence going in the other end and that’s what got us on the board,” said Brandon Glover, with 26 saves on the game.
Glover flashed the leather early in the first frame to make one of the most impressive Hitmen saves of the season. Raiders’ Jonas Knutsen found himself with a prime scoring opportunity in which Glover went post to post to rob Knutsen of a sure thing.
“It’s a long time coming. It was obviously a good team effort pretty well the whole way, we got in a bit of trouble in the first, but obviously our offense is clicking and we got a lot of shots on the goalies. It was just a good night for 60 minutes,” added Bowman.
Bowman’s first goal as a member of the Calgary Hitmen was one to remember, as he split two Raiders forwards to put one through on the low stick side, ending the first period with a 1-0 score.
Bowman would also strike first for the Hitmen in the second period, as a shot from the point would find its way through, deflecting off a Raider defenceman.
The Hitmen would keep it coming, as Brady Brassart would go hard to the net, back-handing it in on the short side.
First-round Chicago Blackhawks draft pick, Mark McNeill would put Prince Albert on the board with the second short-handed marker the Hitmen have given up on the season.
However Calgary would not relent as Trever Cheek came barreling down on the left side to wire one past Cole Holowenko for his seventh regular season goal. Jimmy Bubnick reached a significant milestone on the Cheek market as picked up his 100th career WHL assist.
After allowing 4 goals on 22 shots, Raiders netminder Holowenko was relieved by Eric Williams in the second period. Williams allowed 3 goals and recorded 18 saves for the visitors.
With a 4-1 score, Williams would misplay the puck at the top of the circle, as Jimmy Bubnick would capitalize on the goaltender error and shoot it into the empty net.
Bowman would cap off an exceptional night with a slap shot from the point on a 2-man advantage to record the hat trick.
The Hitmen, now 10-9-1-1 on the season, wrap up a four-game home stand Sunday afternoon when they host the Saskatoon Blades for the CrossIron Mills Shoot for the Stars game in support of Habitat for Humanity Calgary. Puck drop is 2:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.
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