Calgary 9 Victoria 4

Chase Clayton scored his first career hat-trick lifting the Calgary Hitmen to a 9-4 win over the Victoria Royals Tuesday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Jimmy Bubnick (2g 2a) and Cody Sylvester (1g 3a) both had four points each as the Hitmen scored a season high nine goals en-route to their third straight win.

Joey Kornelsen, Brady Brassart, and Alex Gogolev also struck for Calgary who built period leads of 4-1 and 6-2.

Danny Gayle chipped in three assists while Collin Bowman had a pair of helpers as 12 different players had at least a single point.

Brandon Glover made 22 saves in his first start in his hometown to pick up the win.

The game also saw the WHL debut for 2011 Hitmen second round bantam pick Josh Thrower.  The 15-year-old wore number 21 and saw plenty of ice time on the blueline.  He finished the game with one assist and was +2.

Calgary is now 3-1 on their current five game road trip through the BC Division.

Overall the Hitmen are 20-16-2-1, matching their win total from all of last season.  At 43 points they move six points ahead of Red Deer for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but sit only one point back of the Brandon Wheat Kings for seventh. 

Calgary wraps up the road trip tonight in Vancouver against the Giants.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 7:30 p.m. MST with a 30 minute pre-game show.

The Hitmen will then play their first home game in 22 days when they open a three game home stand Sunday afternoon against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  Game time is 2:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.

For information on ticket packages including Flex Packs, Group Tickets or Season Tickets, call Customer Service at 403-777-4646.
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Calgary Hitmen 9 at Victoria Royals 4

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Calgary 4 2 3 - 9
Victoria 1 1 2 - 4

1st Period
1, Calgary, Clayton 3 (Helgesen, Bowman), 2:49.
2, Calgary, Sylvester 15   3:20.
3, Victoria, Nelson 15 (Rintoul, Rathjen), 7:39 (PP).
4, Calgary, Bubnick 15 (Sylvester, Macek), 13:15 (PP).
5, Calgary, Kornelsen 5 (Bubnick, Gayle), 19:47.
Penalties-Macek Cal (cross checking), 6:29; Nelson Vic (interference), 13:08.

2nd Period
6, Calgary, Bubnick 16 (Gayle, Sylvester), 11:57 (PP).
7, Victoria, Nelson 16 (Magee, Jones), 12:17.
8, Calgary, Clayton 4 (Bowman, Glover), 16:27 (PP).
Penalties-Rissling Cal (high sticking, major-fighting), 0:33; Soudek Vic (roughing, major-fighting), 0:33; Bowman Cal (slashing), 4:36; Jones Vic (roughing), 4:36; Rissling Cal (major-fighting), 11:25; Traber Vic (slashing, major-fighting), 11:25; Pauls Vic (delay of game), 12:47; Nelson Vic (inter. on goaltender), 15:20; Sutherland Cal (high sticking), 19:44.

3rd Period
9, Calgary, Brassart 12 (Gayle, Kosterman), 13:29.
10, Victoria, Nelson 17 (Sundher, Crooks), 13:52.
11, Calgary, Gogolev 16 (Bubnick, Sylvester), 15:04.
12, Calgary, Clayton 5 (Gogolev, Thrower), 18:36 (SH).
13, Victoria, Jones 11 (Carroll, Forsyth), 19:45.
Penalties-Brassart Cal (major-fighting), 16:48; Kosterman Cal (hooking), 16:48; Sundher Vic (major-fighting), 16:48.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 10-9-8-27. Victoria 8-9-9-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 3 / 4; Victoria 1 / 3.
Goalies-Calgary, Glover 10-8-0-0 (26 shots-22 saves). Victoria, Rathjen 0-4-1-0 (27 shots-18 saves).
A-5,204
Referees-Andy Thiessen (11).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).