Hitmen Report: back in the win column

After a rough previous week, the Calgary Hitmen rattled off a pair of pretty impressive wins at the Saddledome this past week.

On Friday, the Hitmen beat the Moose Jaw Warriors by a 7-3 score. They gave up the first goal, then rattled off the next four and never let the Warriors back in. Orca Wiesblatt and Carson Focht each scored twice, while Jonas Peterek, Sean Tschigerl and Mark Kastelic added singles. Jack McNaughton picked up the win. Former Hitmen forward Ryder Korzcak scored twice for Moose Jaw in defeat.

Sunday’s game against Medicine Hat was weird. McNaughton allowed three goals on nine shots (in the first 8:08 of the game and was pulled in favour of rookie Brayden Peters. Peters, in his WHL debut, maintained a clean sheet the rest of the way and the Hitmen rallied back to win 6-3. Kasteic and Riley Stotts each scored twice, while Focht and Jackson van de Leest also scored.

The Hitmen hold a record of 6-2-1. They’re second in the Eastern Conference in points percentage, but since they’ve played fewer games than everyone else they’re down in the standings a bit.

They’ll catch up in games played this weekend, as they play three games in four days. They’re in Moose Jaw on Friday, in Regina on Sunday (at Mosaic Stadium), and face the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds on Monday evening.

Jett Woo, Carson Focht and Egor Zamula will be part of the Canada Russia Series next month. Woo and Focht will represent the WHL, while Zamula will suit up for Russia.

Bit by the injury bug a bit, the Hitmen made a trade this week for some reinforcements. They sent a conditional eighth round pick to Regina in exchange for forward Blake Allan.