The Calgary Hitmen completed a home-and-home sweep of the Edmonton Oil Kings with a 5-2 victory at Rogers Place on Friday night.
The Hitmen pounced on Edmonton early, building a 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the opening period on a pair of goals by Ben Kindel. Connor Hvidston then added a power-play tally in the middle frame to extend the lead to 3-0.
After Edmonton responded with goals from Adam Jecho and Miroslav Holinka less than five minutes into the third period, the Hitmen (30-12-5-2) erased any thoughts of an Oil Kings comeback when Carson Wetsch and Ethan Moore responded with goals of their own.
Fresh off a 25-save shutout performance over Edmonton (25-19-1-2) on Wednesday, Hitmen goaltender Daniel Hauser was rock-solid again, making 29 saves to pick up the victory.
Aside from Kindel’s two-goal outing, Tulk (1g, 1a) and Hvidston (1g, 1a) also recorded multi-point games for the Hitmen with Hvidston hitting the 200-career point milestone in his Western Hockey League career.
Calgary’s next four games are all at home starting Sunday against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. Game time is 2 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome for the PAW Patrol game, part of RE/MAX Presents Nickelodeon Nights in support of the Children’s Miracle Network.
The Hitmen will wear PAW Patrol-themed jerseys, which will be sold at elevateacutions.com to support the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Co-branded PAW Patrol and Hitmen youth T-shirts will also be available for purchase from the CGY Team Stores. The first 1,000 fans in the building when doors open at 1 p.m. will receive a free mini stick while 2,000 Hitmen & PAW Patrol themed posters will also be given away. Fire and EMS rirst responder vehicles will be on the west tarmac and PAW Patrol characters Chase and Marshall who will be in attendance. There will also be puppies on the concourse from the Alberta Animals Rescue Crew Society.