ICE TAKE WIN AT DOME
It wasn’t the start to a major homestand the Calgary Hitmen were looking for.
Through seven home matchups to start the season, the Hitmen had picked up points in six of them.
But two games into a six-game homestand, the Hitmen have struggled and only picked up one out of a possible four points.
The latest was a 5-1 setback from the Kootenay Ice on Monday during the Hometown Heroes game at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“We were pretty flat,” said captain Jaynen Rissling. “I think when it got tough, some of us gave up and obviously that’s unacceptable.
“We’ve got to figure it out or else the same thing is going to continue to happen.”
The loss drops the Hitmen to 10-6-1-3 in the standings, and they remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
After the first period, it was all tied up between the two Central Division rivals with the team swapping goals.
Ice forward Tim Bozon opened the scoring nearing the five-minute mark, finishing off a nice passing play for his first goal in the Kootenay uniform.
Calder Brooks scored the equalizer for the Hitmen late in the first, scooping up the loose puck in front and firing it up and over goalie Wyatt Hoffin.
However, the Ice received two goals from Jaedon Descheneau and single markers from Jon Martin and Rinat Valiev in the final 40 minutes while the Hitmen were held off the scoreboard.
“We didn’t have good second and third periods,” said Brooks, who now has goals in back-to-back games. “We came out of the first period tied 1-1 and had a little momentum. We knew we had 40 minutes left to work and basically, everyone just needed to do a little more work in winning the battles.
“We know we have a good team in the room, we just have to stay positive and move forward.”
Rissling added, “We now have to get back to the basics and it seems like guys are trying to do too much and are getting frustrated.”
Calgary goalie Mack Shields faced 33 shots in his first loss of the regular season, while Hoffin made 29 saves in the other net.
Calgary couldn’t connect on three power play opportunities, while killing off four out of six penalties.
The Hitmen have a few days off before a home game on Friday versus the red-hot Swift Current Broncos. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
