Calgary 4 Saskatoon 3 OT

Calgary, AB - Cody Sylvester scored the overtime game winner, his second of the night, lifting the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-3 comeback win over the Saskatoon Blades Friday at Scotiabank Saddledome.  

The win clinches a playoff spot for the Hitmen and moves them five point ahead of Kootenay in the battle for fourth in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the first round.

Jimmy Bubnick and Victor Rask also scored for Calgary who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 while Trevor Cheek chipped in two assists in the win.

                                                   Photo Credit: Brad Watson

Chris Driedger replaced Brandon Glover in the third period. Glover stopped 17-of-20 shots, while Driedger made six saves for Calgary.

Andrey Makarov made 37 saves for the visitors as the Hitmen outshot the Blades 41-26, including 20-7 in the second frame.

Calgary travels to Kootenay to battle the Ice tomorrow night at the Cranbrook Recreation Centre.  Radio broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The FAN begins at 7:00 p.m.  

POST GAME NOTES:  Both Calgary and Saskatoon hit goal posts in overtime before Sylvester's winner....Calgary and Saskatoon split their four game season series with Saskatoon winning the first two and Calgary the last two.

Saskatoon Blades 3 at Calgary Hitmen 4 (OT)
Friday, March 2, 2012 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Saskatoon 1 1 1 0 - 3
Calgary 0 1 2 1 - 4

1st Period
1, Saskatoon, Nicholls 26 (Dietz, Olsen), 7:04.
Penalties-Muller Sas (delay of game), 13:15; Olsen Sas (roughing), 16:54; Gayle Cal (holding), 19:03.

2nd Period
2, Saskatoon, Stransky 35 (Thrower), 11:26 (PP).
3, Calgary, Bubnick 30 (Cheek, Humphries), 12:53.
Penalties-Nicholls Sas (delay of game), 5:55; Humphries Cal (tripping), 10:12; Stransky Sas (slashing), 16:03.

3rd Period
4, Saskatoon, Thrower 18 (Nicholls, Burns), 9:14 (PP).
5, Calgary, Sylvester 21 (Cheek, Sutherland), 10:18.
6, Calgary, Rask 30 (Gogolev), 14:01.
Penalties-Brassart Cal (hooking), 5:31; Brassart Cal (tripping), 7:53; served by Gogolev Cal (too many men), 18:26.

OT Period
7, Calgary, Sylvester 22 (Bubnick, Bowman)  3:46.
Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 5-7-13-1-26. Calgary 9-20-9-3-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 2 / 5; Calgary 0 / 4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Makarov 25-18-1-1 (41 shots-37 saves). Calgary, Glover 18-12-0-0 (20 shots-17 saves); Driedger 21-10-2-1 (6 shots-6 saves).
A-10,259
Referees-Tyler Adair (58), Brett Iverson (24).
Linesmen-Steve Cochrane (125), Jeff Jobson (52).