WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Wednesday, February 20 at Brandon

Published on February 20, 2019 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


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Calgary Hitmen Hockey Club - HitmenHockey.com - @WHLHitmen

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CALGARY HITMEN (30-21-4-1, 65 pts.) at BRANDON WHEAT KINGS (27-22-3-4, 61 pts.)

Wednesday - 6:00 p.m. MT - Westoba Place

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen play Game 2 of a four-game road trip tonight in Brandon against the Wheat Kings. Calgary is coming off a weekend home-and-home sweep of the Medicine Hat Tigers. Following Friday's 3-1 home-ice win, the Hitmen followed it up with a 5-3 triumph Saturday night at the Canalta Centre. Captain Mark Kastelic netted his second hat-trick of the season in the come from behind victory. Trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, the Hitmen struck for a trio of unanswered goals including a pair from Kastelic to give him 42 on the season. Luke Coleman and Vladislav Yeryomenko added singles for the visitors with Egor Zamula chipping in a pair of assists. Calgary outshot Medicine Hat 39-30 as goaltender Carl Stankowski made 27 saves to record the win.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com

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STREAKS

- Riley Stotts (4g, 9a) is riding a 10 game point streak.

- James Malm (3g, 8a) is on a seven-game point streak.

- Mark Kastelic (5g, 2a) has points in four straight games.

- Egor Zamula (1g, 3a), Carson Focht (1g, 1a) and Dakota Krebs (2a) all have points in back-to-back games.

- Goalie Carl Stankowski has won his last two starts posting a goals against average of 2.00 and .933 save percentage.

NOTEWORTHY VS BRANDON: Tonight is the third of four regular season meetings between the Hitmen and Wheat Kings and their second in just 20 days. The road team is 2-0 and both games have been decided in overtime. Mark Kastelic (4g, 1a) leads the Hitmen with five points in the season series while Luke Coleman (3g, 1a) is next with four. Zach Wytinck (4a) is the top-performing Wheat King with four points. Four others have three points each. The two teams will meet one last time on Friday, Mar. 1 in Calgary.

2018-19 SERIES RECAP Oct. 20/18 at BDN: CGY 4 BDN 3 OT...Mark Kastelic netted the winner 45 seconds into the extra session. Feb. 1/19 in CGY: BDN 6 CGY 5 OT...Luka Burzan scored the winner 16 seconds into overtime.

INSIDE THE SERIES Shots on Goal: CGY 65 BDN 69 Power Plays: CGY 5-8 (62.5%) BDN 2-7 (28.6%)

PLAYOFF CHASE: With 12 games to go in the regular season, the Hitmen hold the first Eastern Conference Wildcard spot sitting two points ahead of Red Deer. Looking up, Calgary is two points behind Medicine Hat for third place in the Central Division and trails Lethbridge by five points for second spot. Both the Tigers and Hurricanes are idle tonight with the two teams to face each other Friday in Lethbridge.

HOME AND AWAY: Calgary is 13-12-1-1 on the road this season while Brandon is 17-10-1-2 at home.

FAST FACTS: Including tonight, Calgary has seven road games left in the regular season and just five at home...Mark Kastelic has 14 multi-goal games this season...After an 0-18 slump, Calgary's power play is three for its last three...The Hitmen are 4-1 in their last five road games...Since January 1, Calgary has posted a record of 20-7-2-0...The Hitmen have only been outshot once in the last 12 games...Luke Coleman has scored a career-high 18 goals including 10 since Jan. 1.

DID YOU KNOW?: Mark Kastelic is the first Hitmen player to score 40 goals in a season since Matteo Gennaro netted 43 in the 2016-17 season. Prior to Gennaro, Adam Tambellini scored 47 goals in 2014-15. Kastelic's 83 career goals have him 15th on the clubs all-time goal scoring list, trailing Jake Virtanen by just two markers for 14th spot. Brad Moran holds the franchise record with 204.

JERSEY AUCTION: During "The Corral Series" presented by Adrenalin Source for Sports, the Hitmen honoured teams from the past by wearing three different sets of jerseys. They were all put up for bid with net proceeds supporting the Hitmen Education Fund. The Calgary Centennials and Calgary Cowboys auctions have both closed but one continues. Fans can bid on the Calgary Wranglers jerseys until tonight at 8:00 p.m. The auction can be found at https://elevateauctions.com/CorralSeriesCentennialsJerseys2019

ROSTER MOVES: On Monday the Hitmen returned 18-year-old defenceman Andrew Viggars to the BCHL's West Kelowna Warriors. Viggars played in two games during his recall. The transaction leaves Calgary with seven defencemen, three goalies and 14 forwards.

WHL TOP 15: Mark Kastelic is second in the WHL in goals with 42, his 67 points are tied for 15th and his 22 power play markers lead the league. Egor Zamula is eighth in defencemen scoring with 45 points. Dakota Krebs is eighth in plus/minus among defenceman at +26.

CANADA WINTER GAMES: Three Hitmen prospects are taking part in the 2019 Canada Winter Games underway in Red Deer. Forward Sean Tschigerl is captain of Team Alberta with defenceman Tyson Galloway on Team British Columbia and defenceman Rory Neill on Manitoba. Tschigerl (1g, 2a), Galloway (2a) and Neill (1a) have all found their way onto the scoresheet with the quarterfinals happening today.

HITMEN ALUMNUS: Brandon Kozun, who played parts of four seasons with the Hitmen from 2006-10, is in the KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. He has 40 points (18g, 22a) in 51 games. Kozun sits fourth all-time on the franchise's regular season points list with 270. He was also a member of the 2010 WHL Champion Hitmen.

PROSPECT REPORT: Zac Funk, Calgary's second-round pick, 43rd overall, in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft is in the BC Major Midget League with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. The 15-year-old forward has 51 points (30g, 21a) in 34 games.

MANITOBA CONNECTIONS: Three Hitmen have ties to the province. Assistant Coach Trent Cassan hails from Medora while defenceman Layne Toder is from Elkhorn and forward Riley Stotts is from Winnipeg.

UPCOMING GAMES All times in MT. Schedule subject to change. DATE

OPPONENT TIME BROADCAST

Feb. 22 at Regina 6:00 p.m. Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Feb. 23 at Swift Current 6:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Feb. 27 vs. Swift Current 11:00 a.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Mar. 1 vs. Brandon 7:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Mar. 2 at Kootenay 7:00 p.m. Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

PROMO CALENDAR

Upcoming home game highlights include: - TELUS BE BRAVE Anti-Bullying Game on Feb. 27 vs. SC - Multicultural Night on Mar. 1 vs. BDN - WHL Suits up with Don Cherry to Promote Organ Donation - Presented by RE/MAX and Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Mar. 3 vs. KTN - One Ticket, One Tree on Mar. 8 vs. EDM - Fan Appreciation and Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Mar. 17 vs. EDM

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH

- Jackson van de Leest is two games shy of 100.

- Riley Stotts needs four goals for 50.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2019


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