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Written by Dale Woodard
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009 |
The proverbial fat lady isn’t singing just yet, but she’s tuning up her vocal chords.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Hitmen are getting ready to perform their rendition of “How Sweep It Is.”
Carting a 2-0 series lead into the Enmax Centre as they faced the Lethbridge Hurricanes in second round Western Hockey League playoff action Tuesday, the Hitmen put themselves on the brink of a third-round berth thanks to a dominating second period performance that led to a 4-2 victory and 3-0 series lead.
Calgary can complete the sweep when the puck drops for Game 4 tonight at the Enmax Centre at 7 p.m.
“It’s definitely not the result we wanted,” said Hurricanes defenceman Mitch Versteeg, who tallied one of the two Lethbridge goals. “We definitely didn’t want to go down 3-0. We just have to stay more consistent and play a full game.”
The Hitmen hit the board first when Kris Foucault shovelled a rebound past ’Canes net minder Juha Metsola on the power play at 12:03 of the opening period.
“We knew they would be coming out hard in the first period being in their own barn,” said Hitmen defenceman Keith Seabrook. “It’s always tough playing in our barn with all our fans there. We knew it was going to be tough early and we knew we had to give a little extra effort and we were lucky. We caught a few lucky bounces and we went from there.”
Then the visitors seized the game by the throat early in the second.
Hitmen blueliner Alex Plante rifled a point shot past Metsola after some lengthy Calgary pressure for a 2-0 lead 3:38 into the second stanza.
It was 3-0 a little under two minutes later when Tomas Karpov cashed in on a generous bounce in front of the ’Canes net, prompting a Hurricanes timeout with the Hitmen outshooting the Hurricanes 18-7 at that point.
Calgary nearly went up 4-0 a few minutes later when Brandon Kozun reeled in a puck after a ’Canes giveaway, but fired wide past a diving Metsola.
The Hitmen didn’t miss on their next chance when Lethbridge captain Ben Wright was called for high sticking as Calgary’s Michael Stone tallied four seconds into the man advantage for a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.
“I thought the second period was substandard and we need to be better,” said Hurricanes head coach Mike Dyck. “It was a work thing. They outworked us in the second period. That’s the bottom line. They got some loose pucks and won the races.”
After getting outshot 19-6 in the second period, Lethbridge came out with a stronger effort and hit the scoresheet when Versteeg tallied his second of the post season on the man advantage, hammering a feed from Wright past Hitmen netminder Martin Jones to cut the Hitmen’s lead to 4-1 3:14 into the third.
“We (ended up) running around in our own zone and they took kind of took it to us,” said Seabrook. “We weathered the storm and they had a late one there. It’s not always easy playing with the lead, either. Coming from behind you have no pressure, you just come out and hope to get the bounces. They got a couple late on us.”
Colton Sceviour pulled Lethbridge to within two, potting his fourth of the playoffs with 23 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I thought we were pretty solid,” said Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry. “We knew they were going to come out (with) desperation in their game and we had to make sure we were prepared to play in the first period. I like the way we competed.
“In the second period I thought we were very good in the first five minutes. We did a lot of things really well and we capitalized on our opportunities.”
Like Game 2 Sunday in Calgary, the Hurricanes were the more penalized team, taking 26 minutes in penalties while the Hitmen were called for eight minutes in infractions.
“Tonight they (penalties) were warranted,” said Dyck. “In the first period we took penalties that we can’t afford to take — hooking, tripping and too many men. Those are work penalties and they’re focus penalties. If we give them opportunities they’re certainly going to take advantage of them. We have to be smarter.”
The Hitmen can snag the sweep with a win tonight.
“We’re excited,” said Seabrook. “I know it’s going to be a big battle (tonight). They’re going to come even harder than they did tonight. We’re going to rest up and come with a bigger effort in the first period.”
Building off their performance in the third period of Tuesday’s game will be key, said Versteeg.
“We have to start playing like that for the full game, playing with pride and showing up with a consistent game.”
“We have to take it a shift at a time,” said Dyck. “We have to play like a team and that’s the key. Right now we need more from everybody, but what we need more on an individual basis, we need more as a group and working together.”
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