Depleted Hitmen lineup triumphs 5-3 over Blazers
Photo by Brad Watson
With a roster stripped for parts by injuries and WJC selection camp, the Calgary Hitmen young guns took the reins to lead the team to a 5-3 triumph over the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
While the Blazers gave the home side a bit of a scare, coming within a goal of tying things up in the late stages of the tilt, contributions from all corners of the lineup were enough to clinch the Hitmen fourth-straight win.
“One of the benefits of losing some guys is more minutes for some of the younger guys,” said Hitmen coach Mark French. “We would’ve liked to make it less dramatic at the end, but it’s nice to come away with a victory.”
The Blazers cracked things open eight and a half minutes into the tilt as forward Cole Ully hopped on a point shot rebound to beat Hitmen goaltender Mack Shields shortly before Connor Rankin responded on the powerplay to knot things up.
Around this time last season, Hitmen rookie blueliner Loch Morrison was bailing Blazers keeper Connor Ingram out of defensive jams as teammates on the Prince Albert Mintos of the Saskatchewan Midget-AAA Hockey League.
That was all in the past on Saturday, however, as the Prince Albert product positioned himself in Ingram’s crease, where he tapped in a loose puck just over a minute into the second period to give the Hitmen their first lead.
Morrison was modest about beating his former teammate, but admitted he just might give Ingram the gears about his third career WHL marker.
“I’m gonna bug him about it for sure,” Morrison said. “All that matters is that we got the ‘W’. I’m proud of the guys, we worked hard.”
Working with a four-on-three advantage, the Hitmen added to their lead as Chase Lang wired his 14th of the season past the trio of defenders and Ingram to hand the Blazers a two-goal deficit heading into the third.
Pointing to budding players like Morrison, Jordy Stallard and associate player Aaron Hyman, French said he was pleased with his rookie’s ability to rise to the occasion in the wake of a significant roster hit.
Morrison in particular, French said, is developing at a rapid pace in his premier WHL campaign.
“His game has really blossomed as of late,” French said. “He was very good tonight, not only because he scored, but he was a strong physical presence.”
After the Hitmen thwarted just about every rush the visiting side threw at them, the Blazers eventually broke through, eating into the deficit with Collin Shirley’s ninth marker of the season before Adam Tambellini responded just 13 seconds later.
Getting back within one once again, Matt Revel scored for the Blazers to light a fire under the Hitmen.
Desperate for an insurance goal, the Hitmen pressed hard and had a pair of what they thought were goals waved off by the officials before finally clinching victory with Travis Sanheim’s empty-net marker.
With the win, the Hitmen improved their record to 18-11-3 while Shields stopped 19 pucks to clinch his fourth victory in as many starts.
The Hitmen are right back in action on Sunday as they take on the Kelowna Rockets at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
QUICK HITS: Not dressed for the Hitmen on Saturday were Keegan Kanzig, Colby Harmsworth, Ben Thomas, Virtanen and Sanheim … Sanheim and Virtanen are among 29 players taking part in Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp, which wraps up on Monday in Toronto. In total, 22 players will be selected to represent Canada at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship … The Blazers have a number of WHL bloodlines on their roster, including Matthew Campese, the son of Prince Albert Raiders GM Bruno Campese and Connor Clouston, son of Medicine Hat Tigers coach Shaun … Attendance at Saturday’s game was 10,012.
