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Malc
05-08-2009, 01:52 PM
By Doyle Potenteau

The Calgary Hitmen came out firing on Thursday night. The Kelowna Rockets, meanwhile, fired duds.

Joel Broda scored twice for Calgary and Martin Jones had an easy night in goal, making just 18 saves, as the Hitmen posted a 6-1 victory over the Rockets in WHL playoff action on Thursday night. Calgary outshot Kelowna 50-19 in the contest, including 18-9 in the first period, and now the Hitmen trail the league final 3-2.

The best-of-seven series, which saw Kelowna race out to a 3-0 lead, then lose 6-2 in Game 4 on Wednesday, resumes Saturday night with Game 6 at Prospera Place.

“There was one team on the ice; that‘s all I can really say,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team arrived at 2 a.m. local time after taking a midnight charter from Kelowna after Game 4.

The Hitmen, who have outscored the Rockets 11-1 in the last 4 1/2 periods, were also on the plane, and both teams returned to Kelowna on the same charter after Game 5.

“We didn‘t get off the plane. It was one of those nights for our club,” continued Huska. “They‘re skating and they‘re working the same way, I thought, for the first three games. I think we haven‘t been as determined or as structurally sound in these last two games. And because of that, we‘re giving them a lot of open ice in the neutral zone and they‘re using that to their advantage. They‘re putting us on our heels more than we‘d like to be. Having said that, when they pushed, we haven‘t pushed back and that‘s something we have to find.”

Kris Foucault, Brett Sonne, Alex Plante and Rigby Burgart also scored for Calgary, which recorded back-to-back victories and six-goal games. Cody Almond replied for Kelowna, which received a 44-save effort from Mark Guggenberger.

“We‘re obviously pleased with the outcome and the way we responded again tonight,” said Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry, adding his team is back in the hunting mode. “We competed from start to finish; special teams were good and our top players were good. That‘s what you need to win, and that‘s what you need from your guys to win at this time of year.”

Lowry also added that his Hitmen are “a better team than you saw in the first couple of games. The reason why we were disappointed is we thought we had chances to win those games. We knew we didn‘t play at the level we had played at all year, and we‘ve been able to elevate our game.

“We‘ve worked for our opportunities, we‘ve worked for our bounces, and the difference in the last couple is we‘ve capitalized on those opportunities.”

After blitzing Kelowna for the first 10 minutes of the first period, Calgary finally broke through in the latter stages of the frame, Foucault with his 11th of the playoffs at 16:29.

Trailing a Hitmen rush, Foucault opened the scoring from atop the crease by burying a backhand rebound into an almost-empty net. Guggenberger made the initial save, but was quickly wiped out by three bodies who crashed into him. Foucault‘s goal was Calgary‘s 15th shot on net.

In the second, Broda made it 2-0 at 3:48 with a power-play goal, cleaning up Keith Seabrook‘s rebound from the point.

Eight minutes later, Almond replied for Kelowna, beating Jones in a one-on-one battle by going high glove side with the backhand.

Defenceman Tyson Barrie started the play by rushing down the right side into Calgary‘s end, dropping a pass to Ian Duval, who then, from the right faceoff dot, dished a soft feed to Almond in the slot.

Almond‘s 10th of the playoffs, however, was quickly countered, as Sonne scored at 12:29 to make it 3-1. Parked with the puck behind Kelowna‘s net and to Guggenberger‘s left, Sonne fed a slot pass to Kyle Bortis, who put a quick shot on net. The rebound popped out to Sonne, who hadn‘t moved an inch, and from there, he put in a sharp-angle shot.

Six minutes after that, at 18:48, Broda scored from almost the same place to make it 4-1. Alex Plante, from the left blue-line boards, loosed a shot that missed Kelowna‘s net and bounced off the endboards and right to Broda at the left post, who tapped in his second of the night.

Plante made it 5-1 at 14:39 of the third on the power play, wristing in a long rebound that popped out to the right faceoff circle. Burgart closed out the scoring at 17:30 by jamming in a rebound during a hectic goal-mouth scramble.

ICE CHIPS: – Kelowna‘s scratches were LW Jamie Benn (undisclosed injury), RW Shane McColgan and RW Kyle St. Denis (undisclosed injury). Calgary‘s scratches were D Austin Madaisky, C Chase Schaber, LW Mackenzie Royer and LW Tyler Fiddler.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=184564

Malc
05-08-2009, 01:53 PM
by Regan Bartel

The Calgary Hitmen were full marks for a dominating 6-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets Thursday night in game five of the Western Hockey League final. The Hitmen fired 50 shots at Mark Guggenberger, who received little to no support in goal. The Rockets still lead the series 3 games to two, with game six Saturday night at Prospera Place.

Had Guggenberger had an off night, what would the score have been?

Despite being badly out shot, the Rockets had a handful of chances when the game was close. Evan Bloodoff and Ian Duval had tremendous chances, but failed to bury the puck in the back of the net. In the first three games the Rockets were making the most of those opportunities, now the Hitmen are finishing those chances.

The Hitmen have out-scored the Rockets 12-3 in the last two games and are playing like a desperate team, which they indeed are. For a second straight game they staved off elimination and did it handily. When will the Rockets play like a desperate team? If the players don't believe they need to be, they are fooling themselves.

Where has the Rockets power play gone? After going 2 for 3 in game one, the power play has failed to score a goal in the last four games. Over that period they are 0 for 14.

While the power play has vanished, so has the teams physical play. While the Hitmen are forcing the issue physically, the Rockets aren't pushing back. And if they are, in most situations they are taking trips to the penalty box because of frustration. The end result has the Hitmen with 5 power play goals in their last 14 chances (35.7%).

How valuable is Jamie Benn to the Rockets overall success? After back-to-back losses the question is being answered. Benn has missed games three-four and five, with the Rockets losing two of those three. The team could use an emotional lift. Having Benn back in the lineup would do just that.

Hitmen forward Ian Schultz got off lucky with serving a 2 minute minor for a head shot to Rockets defenceman Tyson Barrie. Barrie crashed to the ice at the Hitmen blue line on the Schultz hit. It appeared the Rockets bench was calling for a deliberate attempt to injure penalty, but referee Matt Kirk sided with just a minor penalty.

Despite inconsistency's in the way the game was called, the officials had little baring on the outcome of the game. On this night the Rockets were at fault and the Hitmen should be credited with the solid effort.