Hitmen 5 Wheat Kings 1

Ben Thomas and Brady Brassart both had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1 Tuesday night at Westman Place.

Connor Rankin, Greg Chase and Pavel Padakin also scored for the Hitmen who have now picked up points in 13 straight games going 12-0-1-0.

Adam Tambellini and Alex Roach both had a pair of assists for Calgary who built period leads of 1-0 and 4-0.

The Hitmen powerplay turned in another strong performance going 2-4.  It has now scored in every game of their current 13 game streak while the penalty kill was perfect killing all three Wheat Kings chances.

The Hitmen outshot the Brandon 40-24 with Chris Driedger making 23 saves to record the win.

Rihards Bukarts had the lone goal for the Wheat Kings who lost all four meetings in the season series for the second straight season.

Coupled with the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 loss in Swift Current, Calgary now leads the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference by two points over their provincial rivals, although the Oil Kings have a game in hand.

Calgary Hitmen 5 at Brandon Wheat Kings 1

Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - Westman Place - Brandon, MB

Calgary 1 3 1 - 5

Brandon 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period

1, Calgary, Thomas 6 (Tambellini, Brassart), 13:46. 

Penalties-Rissling Cal (roughing), 7:57; Bukarts Bdn (roughing), 7:57; Waltz Bdn (elbowing), 15:44; Brassart Cal (slashing), 16:29.

2nd Period

2, Calgary, Rankin 20 (Thomas, Virtanen), 3:46 (PP). 

3, Calgary, Chase 32   5:45. 

4, Calgary, Brassart 34 (Tambellini, Roach), 18:13 (PP). 

Penalties-Green Bdn (high sticking), 2:20; Lang Cal (boarding), 12:34; Gabrielle Bdn (charging), 16:58.

3rd Period

5, Calgary, Padakin 26 (Welykholowa, Roach), 16:52. 

6, Brandon, Bukarts 24 (Pilon, McGauley), 18:31. 

Penalties-Draude Cal (major-fighting, game misconduct), 11:39; Helgesen Cal (major-fighting), 11:39; Gabrielle Bdn (major-fighting, game misconduct), 11:39; Quenneville Bdn (boarding, major-fighting), 11:39; Thomas Cal (cross checking), 13:11.

Shots on Goal

Calgary 18-10-12-40. Brandon 9-11-4-24.

Power Play Opportunities

Calgary 2 / 4; Brandon 0 / 3.

Goalies

Calgary, Driedger 28-14-3-4 (24 shots-23 saves). Brandon, Papirny 22-15-4-3 (40 shots-35 saves).

A-2,858

Referees-Chris Crich (20), Brett Iverson (24).

Linesmen-Warren Birch (110), Bryden Hutlet (114).