The Calgary Hitmen defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings by a 5-1 score last night in Mastercard Memorial Cup play on the strength of five first-period goals, including one from the stick of Blues' forward prospect Tyler Shattock.
Calgary scored first only to see the Wheat Kings tie the score early, but four unanswered goals in the remainder of the first period proved to be the difference.
Shattock, with a goal and two assists -- and a plus-4 -- in the game, is now tied for second in the Memorial Cup scoring race with two other players, including probable 2010 first-overall draft pick Taylor Hall of Windsor. Shattock's line is 2-4-6, plus-4, 0 PM in three games; teammate and fellow Blues' prospect Ian Schultz has an 0-2-2, minus-2, 2 PM line in three games.
Calgary teammate Jimmy Bubnick, who came to the Hitmen along with Shattock in a January trade with the Kamloops Blazers, leads the tournament in scoring with a 3-5-8 line in three games.
The two WHL clubs will meet again on Friday night in the semifinal game, with the winner facing off against defending Memorial Cup champion Windsor on Sunday. Game time on Friday is 7:00 PM CDT.
LINK to game story at Mastercard Memorial Cup dot com.
LINK to game summary at Mastercard Memorial Cup dot com.