Early Jump
The early bird gets the worm.
That’s the mentality the Hitmen will have as they depart on a season-high seven-game road trip that kicks off with the first of back-to-back games against the Royals Saturday night in Victoria.
“At any time when you can get a good start to the game and get on the board early, I think it can put some confidence into your game but also try and create some early momentum so you can build off of that,” said Hitmen head coach Dallas Ferguson. “Starts of games are important, [Victoria] is a team we haven’t seen at all this year, so going into their building with two back-to-back games we want to start things off the right way.”
The Hitmen are 2-3-0-0 over their last five games, but opposing teams has scored the first goal of the tilt on all five occasions, outscoring Calgary by a combined 7-1 in first periods over that span.
According to Jakob Stukel, though, simply starting the game with the right energy is more important than getting the first goal.
“It’s big, we always emphasize that this year,” said Stukel, who leads the team with 22 goals and 37 points so far this season. “The first five minutes, the first shift, get out there and make a statement, [make] a hit, make a big play and I think that’s really important on these [seven] games.
“Obviously you’d like to get that first goal but it doesn’t happen all the time so we just have to keep doing our part.”
In five road wins so far this season, the Hitmen have opened the scoring on three occasions. Over those five contests, they hold a 7-6 edge against the opposition in first-period goals while outshooting the home team 60-52 in the opening 20 minutes.
“Every single game that we play in that we have a fast start we notice a huge difference in the game and the outcome that happens,” said Riley Stotts. “So we’re just looking to get a good start and play as a team through the full 60 minutes and get going right off the first puck drop.”
