Rasky Business
The Calgary Hitmen rebounded in a big way on Friday night against the Spokane Chiefs with a 3-2 overtime victory. Coming off a disappointing 6-1 loss in Edmonton, the Hitmen managed to reestablish early momentum and net the game winner.
“It didn’t look like the same hockey team so I guess it was good to have a quick turn around and not to dwell on it,” said Hitmen Head Coach, Mike Wiliamson. “What we talked about after the game last night was its over, lets throw this one in the garbage and make sure we are ready.”
Victor Rask’s 15th goal of the season was the overtime winner for the Calgary Hitmen.
“The goalie gave away the puck to me and I had an open net but I couldn’t find it, but after that we retrieved the puck, I got a chance and I scored,” said Victor Rask, who recorded the first and final goal of the game.
Coming into the game with a 12-1-1-0 record when scoring first, things appeared optimistic early for the Hitmen as Victor Rask proved relentless on his own rebound and buried it.
Calgary’s power play unit put the pressure on early as an abundance of opportunities arose on four minutes of penalties, but the Hitmen were unable to cash in.
“I think we have to do little bit of a better job around the net, just sticking with some loose pucks to make sure we extend our lead a little bit better,” added Williamson.
The second marker of the night came as Alex Gogolev took full advantage of a deflection off a Chief defenceman.
“I think we have to do little bit of a better job around the net, just sticking with some loose pucks to make sure we extend our lead a little bit better there instead of being a 2-0 game,” added Williamson.
Calgary came close to adding another to cap off the second period as Jimmy Bubnick dangled around a trio of Chiefs, but was thwarted by the poke check of Luke Lee-Knight.
A tripping penalty taken early in the third by the Hitmen proved costly as Brenden Kichton narrowed the score to within one.
Just over two minutes later, Chiefs’ Darren Kramer went up and over goaltender Chris Driedger to tie the game up at two-a-piece.
“You have to give Spokane credit, they kept it close enough to put themselves in a position on the road to be within striking distance and then got the breaks,” said Williamson. “They very well could have taken the lead, so I guess we bent but didn’t break.”
The victory over the Chiefs was significant as Calgary ran into some tough luck against Spokane over the previous four meetings, with a 0-2-1-1 record.
Driedger made 19 saves in the Hitmen net, including 12 in the third period, as Calgary outshot the Chiefs 30-21 in the victory. Chiefs’ netminder, Lee-Knight played an impressive game in front of hometown supporters, making 27 saves. Calgary, now 15-11-1-1 on the season, hosts the Medicine Hat Tigers on Sunday, Dec. 4 in the 17th annual Petro-Canada Teddy Bear Toss. Suncor Energy is the proud owner of Petro-Canada.
