A goaltenders duel where both teams battled their hearts out and set the table for one heck of a series ultimately went against the Wheat Kings in Calgary for their playoff opener.
Filip Ruzicka was sensational with 64 saves, but the Hitmen took a 1-0 triple overtime victory over Brandon. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.
“That’s a heartbreaker, no question, to lose a game like that,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It was a hard fought game. Our guys left it all out there. They were gassed at the end, as probably were Calgary. You work that hard and play that long and come out on the wrong side, it’s deflating, but like I told the guys after the game it’s one game and this is a best of seven.”
Both teams had some great looks from their big guns in the first period, including on the power play. For the Wheat Kings, Joby Baumuller was denied in the high slot, while for the Hitmen, Caine Wilke hit the post on a one-timer. But the first period came and went with the opening goal of the series still up for grabs.
The second period progressed much the same way, not only in the goalless score but in the Wheat Kings hitting a post on their power play. Grayson Burzynski rang iron and, on the same power play, Baumuller was stoned point-blank by the left pad of Eric Tu. And into the second intermission the two teams went, still without the opening goal.
Again in the third period the two teams had their chances, but a tighter defensive structure both ways was in evidence and the chances didn’t come as easily as they had in the second. The scoreless tie held through the third and the two teams went to overtime.
And still, the first overtime produced no goals. Caleb Hadland was robbed by the left pad of Tu with less than a minute to go in the first extra frame, and the Hitmen earned a power play but could not convert, and a second overtime was required.
The two teams had perhaps their best chances yet in double overtime. Luke Mistelbacher and Julien Maze both hit posts, and Jimmy Egan earned a penalty shot, but was turned aside by Tu.
Triple overtime finally provided the winner. The Hitmen stripped the puck in the left wing corner and fed it out front to a waiting Ethan Moore, who snapped it home.
The Wheat Kings and Hitmen get a well-earned day off on Saturday before facing off again on Sunday at 7:00 Mountain Time.
