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 | Greg Chase continued his red-hot start to the 2013-14 WHL season, collecting another three points and scoring the shootout winner in the Calgary Hitmen's 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. The Edmonton Oilers prospect has now scored 10 goals and picked 17 points in ten games to start the year, good enough for seventh spot among the Western Hockey League's leading scorers. | | Calgary - October 18, 2013 - With the shootout looming, Calgary Hitmen forward Greg Chase had a little meeting with goalie Chris Driedger.
Chase had the hot hand on the night, picking up points on all three of the Hitmen goals and his name was called Calgary’s second shooter.
Driedger’s advice – go to your move and shoot it.
Hitmen goalie Mack Shields and his counterpart Saskatoon Blades netminder Alex Moodie had stopped the first three shootout attempts before Chase skated to centre ice.
The best way to describe Chase’s move is a couple of quick stickhandles, before unleashing a snap shot between the hashmarks. This time, the red light flashed behind the net.
“That’s one of my favourite moves,” Chase said. “I guess it worked.”
Shields poked away the Blades final shootout attempt and handed the Hitmen a 4-3 victory on Thursday night.
Chase, with one other marker in the game, has already hit double digits in the goal category this season and holds the lead in the WHL Eastern Conference with 10 goals.
The victory moves the Hitmen to 6-3-0-1 on the season as they remain without a regulation loss on home ice.
After a scoreless first period, action picked up in the middle stanza -- starting with Chase.
A scramble broke out in front of the Blades net, and Chase was able to get a stick on the puck and push it in to open the scoring almost halfway through the game.
Saskatoon came back a few minutes later with a marker from Nikita Scherbak to tie it up.
Just minutes later though, Jesse Zgraggen regained the Hitmen lead, jumping up on the rush and finishing off a Brady Brassart setup into the yawning cage for his first of the season.
Brassart, who finished the night with three points as well, scored early in the third period, outwaiting Moodie on a broken rush and potting his fifth of the year.
Saskatoon came back with goals from Clayton Kirichenko and Scherbak to even up the scoring and send the game to overtime.
“The last couple games, we needed to be a little stronger in the third, showed a little more urgency,” Chase said. “We came out and scored that early one, but they scored a couple lucky ones. Nothing you could do about that, but we found a way to win.”
Calgary outshot the Blades 6-3 in extra time, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Shields continued his strong play on the campaign, turning away 38 pucks in total while picking up his fourth straight win to start the season.
“I definitely think we are going to have two great goalies this year,” Brassart said. “Mack’s playing more games already and he’s proving himself. He’s keeping us in it when we need and obviously stopped three-for-three in the shootout which is huge for us.”
Moodie mades 41 saves in the other net.
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