“Road-ice advantage” shone through again Saturday as the Calgary Hitmen downed the home-standing Saskatoon Blades 4-1.
Captain Mark Kastelic opened the scoring and added an insurance goals as the visiting team made it nine straight wins in head-to-head match-ups between the Bridge City Bunch and the Hitmen, dating back to January, 2018 before 3,218 fans. The Blue and Gold lead the season series 2-1-0 with one more game to be played at SaskTel Centre on March 4.
Despite falling behind 2-0, the Blades had chances to recover. Riley McKay tipped a Zach Huber shot for a late first period power play goal and Saskatoon started the second period with 1:15 of two-man power play advantage. But, they didn’t connect and Tristen Robins couldn’t score on a third period penalty shot as the Bridge City Bunch had two streaks come to an end…a three-game winning run overall and a spate of seven straight home games in which the Blue and Gold picked up at least one point in the standings (5-0-2).
The Blades are 11-8-2 for the season and host Moose Jaw Sunday afternoon at 2:30. The Sardinia Family Restaurant pre-game show kicks things off at 1:30 on 98-COOL. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Calgary Hitmen 4 at Saskatoon Blades 1 – Status: Final
Saturday, November 16, 2019 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Calgary 2 2 0 – 4
Saskatoon 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Calgary, Kastelic 12 9:09. 2, Calgary, Prokop 2 (Kydd), 13:41. 3, Saskatoon, McKay 9 (De La Gorgendiere, Florchuk), 16:07 (PP). Penalties-Kaddoura Sas (high sticking), 5:54; Klassen Cgy (elbowing), 14:52; Allan Cgy (roughing), 19:14; Campbell Cgy (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 20:00; van de Leest Cgy (cross checking), 20:00; McKay Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 20:00.
2nd Period-4, Calgary, Kastelic 13 (Peterek, Stotts), 14:12. 5, Calgary, Campbell 1 (Allan, Wiesblatt), 19:24. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tschigerl Cgy (high sticking), 6:16; Krebs Cgy (high sticking), 9:53; Wouters Sas (tripping), 15:00.
Shots on Goal-Calgary 14-11-3-28. Saskatoon 6-4-9-19.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 2; Saskatoon 1 / 5.
Goalies-Calgary, McNaughton 6-2-0-1 (19 shots-18 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 9-7-1-1 (28 shots-24 saves).
A-3,218
Referees-Mark Pearce (5), Allan Scott (38).
Linesmen-Riley Carriere (72), Andrew Sawatsky (123).
