Foiled again?
Not on this night, as the Calgary Hitmen weren’t about to be fooled for a second straight night of the Western Hockey League playoffs.
Indeed, they turned the tables on the Red Deer Rebels, earning a 2-1 overtime decision on April Fool’s Day.
The Game 2 win for the visiting Hitmen came just 24 hours after the host Rebels scored an opening-game victory — a 3-0 shutout — meaning the WHL’s Eastern Conference best-of-seven quarterfinal is now tied at one win apiece between the Alberta junior puck rivals.
Hitmen forward David Adaszynski won it with a goal 16:42 into the extra session.
The only pucks to beat either goalie — and count — before OT came off the sticks of Rebels defenceman Christoffer Sedoff midway through the third period and Hitmen sniper Sean Tschigerl with 97 seconds left in regulation.
The scene now shifts from the Peavey Mart Centrium to Calgary for Games 3 and 4 on Monday (7 p.m.) and Wednesday (7 p.m.) at Scotiabank Saddledome, with the Hitmen looking to take control of the first-round post-season set.
But to do that, they’ll likely need more goals than what they’ve scored so far in the series.
Adding to that lack-of-production issue is the health of captain and leading scorer Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who exited Game 2 in the second period and returned later in the frame before leaving the game for good. Fiddler-Schultz paced the club with 31 goals, 44 assists and 75 points during the regular season.
But they found a way to get it done without him late Saturday.
That was backed by veteran goaltender Brayden Peters’ brilliant performance. He made 38 saves, including a number on ever-dangerous forward Jayden Grubbe. Peters reached behind him in OT to take away one of Grubbe’s huge opportunities.
At the other end, Rebels counterpart Kyle Kelsey — who posted the shutout in Game 1 and came oh-so close to doing so again Saturday — was just as solid, stopping 36 pucks fired on net by the Hitmen.
It looked as if the Rebels opened scoring early in the second period when Kai Uchacz tapped in a puck, but the Hitmen challenged the play for offside and were rewarded with an official’s overturn, wiping off the goal.
No other puck would elude either goalie until 8:40 left in regulation, when defenceman Sedoff scored on the rush, firing a perfect shot from the top of the circle into the top corner of the net behind Peters.
The Hitmen refused to roll over, though, and kept coming in a bid to tie the affair — finally doing so when Carter MacAdams walked into the high slot and pounded a puck that trickled through and out behind Kelsey, where Tschigerl was first to it to knock it in. The late goal was enough to give the visitors renewed life.
And that set up the win for the Hitmen, with Adaszynski becoming the hero in overtime. All-star defenceman Carter Yakemchuk climbed a ladder to knock down a Rebels’ clearing attempt at the blueline, before backhanding it to Tschigerl, who then relayed it to MacAdams before he fed it to the goal-scorer. Adaszynski went high on Kelsey to convert the play.
The Rebels challenged the goal, thinking the puck might have cleared the zone with Yakemchuk doing his best to keep it in, but officials upheld it as the game-winner.
“Their guy makes a nice play keeping it in,” Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk told reporters post-game. “It was close to the blueline there, but I don’t know … we thought, at that point, we might as well check it and see. The puck didn’t get out.
“You’re not going to win every game.”
LOOSE PUCKS
Hitmen D Dax Williams and Rebels C Ryker Singer dropped the gloves for a spirited fight that had the Centrium going crazy in Saturday night’s second period … Hitmen D Keagan Slaney served the final game of his three-game suspension Saturday night, meaning he’ll return from the league-imposed charging violation for Game 3 … Also missing from the Hitmen lineup due to suspension was LW Maxim Muranov, who was banned one game for his slew-foot Friday night. Muranov was Game 1’s leading shot-man for the Hitmen, firing five pucks on Kelsey … Other sidelined Hitmen for Game 2 were D Vojtech Husinecky, RW Billal Noori — out with a season-ending injury — and 20-year-old C Jacob Wright — who is listed day-to-day …
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