Ben Kindel had two goals and two assists as the Calgary Hitmen defeated the host Moose Jaw Warriors 6-4 on Wednesday night.
The win lifted the Western Hockey League club to within one point of top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tanner Howe opened the scoring for the Hitmen just under three minutes in with his 11th of the season on a high-slot one-timer off a pass from Kindel.
Moose Jaw was quick to follow up courtesy of Owen Berge tying the game entering the second period.
The floodgates would open up in the middle frame with five goals scored.
The Warriors took the lead with a goal from Krzysztof Macias just over five minutes into the period.
Kindel responded with back-to-back goals to make it 3-2, and now has 26 tallies this season.
Calgary’s lead would be short-lived with Moose Jaw’s Pavel Mckenzie tying the game just 34 seconds later.
Kalem Parker put the Hitmen back in front with six minutes remaining in the second with his ninth goal of the season. Calgary would continue to press, scoring back-to-back power-play goals to increase the lead to three goals. Brandon Gorzynski netted his eighth of the campaign, while Sawyer Mynio potted his seventh.
Moose Jaw’s Eric Johnston rounded out the scoring at the 10:45 mark of the third.
Kindel registered his 21st multi-point game of the season. Parker recorded a goal and an assist in his first visit to the Moose Jaw Events Centre since being traded to the Hitmen back in November. This win for Daniel Hauser moves him into a tie former Hitmen goaltender Martin Jones for 10th place on the all-time WHL regular season wins list with 108.
Calgary (26-12-3-2) sits one point back of first-place Medicine Hat with two games in hand.
The Hitmen now have a two-day break before a pair of weekend games. On Saturday, they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes before returning to Scotiabank Saddledome for a Sunday showdown against the Red Deer Rebels (6 p.m.).