Vancouver at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen (28-17-2-1) wrap up a five game homestand tonight against the Vancouver Giants (28-18-1-2).  The Hitmen have won 11 of their last 12 games and are coming off Wednesday's 7-2 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings.  The Giants meanwhile have just two wins in their last seven games falling 4-2 in Red Deer on Wednesday in their last outing.

Calgary enters the contest with 59 points, tied with Saskatoon for fifth in the Eastern Conference, just a point back of Kootenay for fourth.  Vancouver is fourth in the Western Conference with 59 points trailing Portland by six points for third.

Tonight is their second and final regular season meeting.  The Hitmen posted a 6-4 victory on the West Coast on January 4th.  Six different Hitmen scored in the win while defenceman Collin Bowman had a monster game with a goal and two assists to go along with a +4 rating.  Calgary overcame a 2-0 first period deficit and out shot Vancouver 39-24.  The Hitmen went 1-3 on the powerplay while the Giants were 1-5.

Calgary is 5-0-0-1 in their last six home games against Vancouver.

Overall the Hitmen are 14-8-0-1 on home ice this season while the Giants are 10-11-1-1 on the road.

STREAKIN':  Brooks Macek (3g 4a), Victor Rask (4g 3a) and Chase Clayton (2g 2a) are all on a three game point streaks.  Trevor Cheek (1g 1a) has points in back-to-back games.  Brandon Glover is 7-1 in his last eight starts, while Chris Driedger is 5-0-1-0 in his last six starts.

DID YOU KNOW?  In Calgary's last 12 games that has seen the club post an 11-1 record, they have outscored their opponents by a combined 60-30...Vancouver Giants forward Brendan Gallagher, a Montreal Canadiens prospect, had six points (3g 3a) in six games helping Team Canada win Bronze at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship.  Giants Head Coach Don Hay was also the bench boss for Team Canada.  Adam Morrison will get the start in the Giants net tonight after missing the last six games with an injury.

ALL-STARS:  This weekend the NHL All-Star game will take place in Ottawa with the AHL All-Star Classic also being held this weekend in Atlantic City, N.J.  Taking part in the AHL festivities will be two former members of both the Hitmen and the Giants. Paul Postma will dress for the Eastern All-Stars, while Alex Plante will patrol the Western All-Star’s blue line.  Both are alumni defencemen of Calgary.  Former Giants Kevin Connauton and Tyson Sexsmith will play for the East and West, respectively.  The last Hitmen player to take part in the NHL All-Star game was Ryan Getzlaf in 2008-09.

Top Scorers:

Calgary
Cody Sylvester 17g 36a 53pts
Jimmy Bubnick 21g 23a 44pts
Victor Rask 21g 18a 39pts

Vancouver
Brendan Gallagher 28g 27a 55pts
Marek Tvrdon 18g 32a 50pts
Cain Franson 19g 25a 44pts