Hitmen Report: the in-between time

The Calgary Hitmen are marching their way towards the Western Hockey League playoffs. They can’t really move up or down in the standings, so the next few weeks will be challenging as they try to get into playoff form without a ton at stake in their games.

The Hitmen polished off their eastern swing with three games in three nights. They won one of ’em.

On Friday they suffered a 3-1 loss in Brandon. The Hitmen were scored on 103 seconds into the first period and chased the rest of the way. Josh Prokop had the lone Calgary goal. Brayden Peters made 31 saves in the loss.

On Saturday they lost 5-2 to the ICE in Winnipeg. They were down 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 midway through the game. Riley Stotts scored twice to make the score respectable. Jack McNaughton made 27 saves and took the loss, but stayed in the game (likely because the plan was to keep Peters fresh for the third game of the weekend).

The Hitmen finally got back in the win column on Sunday, beating Winnipeg 3-2. It was a back-and-forth game, but they kept battling and got goals from Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Carson Focht and Orca Wiesblatt. Peters made 17 saves for the win.

The Hitmen are 23-15-4-1, sitting in the first wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re nine points behind Medicine Hat for a divisional playoff spot and 16 points up on Red Deer, trying to grab a playoff spot behind them.

The Hitmen can’t get much higher in the standings. If they finish in their current spot, they’ll play Winnipeg in the first round. If they get caught by Saskatoon (four points back) and slip to the second wild-card, they get a tougher match-up against the Edmonton Oil Kings. But neither are really insurmountable challenges.

Calgary has a home-and-home this weekend with the Rebels: Saturday at the Centrium, Sunday at the ‘Dome. The Winnipeg ICE visit for the first time on Wednesday, so try to resist the urge to shout “Kootenay sucks!”