Calgary 5 Red Deer 2

Calgary, AB - Brady Brassart scored twice giving him 25 goals on the season as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Red Deer Rebels 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The win clinches home ice advantage for Calgary with the club to host Game 1 and Game 2 of their best-of-seven opening round series at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday, March 22nd and Friday, March 23rd.  Both will be 7pm starts.  Right now their opponent is one of four possible teams: Kootenay, Regina, Saskatoon or Brandon.

                                             Photo Credit: Brad Watson

Collin Bowman, Jake Virtanen and Jimmy Bubnick, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary who jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead.

Victor Rask chipped in a pair of assists for Calgary who won five of six meetings with the Rebels this season.

Adam Kambeitz and John Persson replied for a Red Deer team that was outshot 30-15 and playing their third game in as many days.

Brandon Glover made 13 saves in the Hitmen net to record his 20th win of the season.  The victory was a franchise first, two goalies with 20 win seasons as Chris Driedger has 22 victories.

Calgary improves to 42-24-2-1.  At 87 points, they sit two points back of Medicine Hat for third in the WHL's Eastern Conference.  Both teams have three games remaining.

The Hitmen return to action Wednesday night to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  Game time is 7:00 p.m.

Red Deer Rebels 2 at Calgary Hitmen 5
Sunday, March 11, 2012 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Red Deer 1 0 1 - 2
Calgary 2 1 2 - 5

1st Period
1, Calgary, Bowman 15 (Bubnick, Cheek), 6:26.
2, Calgary, Virtanen 3 (Clayton, Sutherland), 12:11 (PP).
3, Red Deer, Kambeitz 16 (Persson, Petrovic), 14:08 (PP).
Penalties-Fafard R.d (slashing), 2:48; Persson R.d (roughing), 10:24; Kosterman Cal (tripping), 13:49; Fafard R.d (major-fighting), 19:24; Clayton Cal (roughing, major-fighting), 19:24.

2nd Period
4, Calgary, Brassart 24 (Rask, Humphries), 11:48.
Penalties-Kornelsen Cal (tripping), 3:47; Kambeitz R.d (slashing), 11:48; Sutherland Cal (roughing), 11:48; Kambeitz R.d (holding opp. stick), 16:30.

3rd Period
5, Red Deer, Persson 23 (Kambeitz, Dumba), 3:39.
6, Calgary, Brassart 25 (Kosterman, Rask), 4:10.
7, Calgary, Bubnick 32 (Brooks, Rissling), 19:20.
Penalties-Bricker R.d (charging), 4:53; Ness R.d (high sticking), 12:01.

Shots on Goal-Red Deer 8-4-3-15. Calgary 11-8-11-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Red Deer 1 / 3; Calgary 1 / 5.
Goalies-Red Deer, Pouliot 2-5-0-2 (30 shots-25 saves). Calgary, Glover 20-12-0-0 (15 shots-13 saves).
A-13,100
Referees-Sean Raphael (28), Reagan Vetter (79).
Linesmen-Sean Donnelly (109), Mark MacIsaac (22).

Red Deer at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen (41-24-2-1), with just seven days left in the regular season, host the Red Deer Rebels (30-32-1-5) today in a late Sunday matinee.  Game time is 4:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  Internet Broadcast on Sportsnet960.ca also starts at 4 o'clock.  Calgary is coming off Friday's 6-3 win Lethbridge while Red Deer will play their third game in as many days.  They dropped a 5-2 home ice decision Friday against Edmonton before falling 7-4 last night in the provincial capital. 

Today's game is a fundraiser for ConnecTeen Calgary with a special $10 ticket offer.  Click here to see the ticket offer

With four games left in the regular season, the Hitmen are currently fourth in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 85 points, four back of third place Medicine Hat and five points up on fifth place Kootenay, however the Hitmen have a game in hand on both teams.  Red Deer meanwhile is ninth in the conference with 66 points and were mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase last night.
Today is the sixth and final meeting between the two clubs.  Calgary leads the season series 4-1 having outscored the Rebels by a combined 20-11.  Jimmy Bubnick (4g 6a) leads all Hitmen with 10 points against Red Deer.  Chase Clayton (4g 1a), Greg Chase (1g 4a) and Cody Sylvester (1g 4a) are all next with five.  Matthew Dumba (3g 2a) and John Persson (2g 3a) tops the Rebels with five points each against Calgary. 
-Oct. 7 in CAL: Rebels 4 Hitmen 2.  Colton Mayor and John Persson each had a goal and an assist for the Rebels.
-Jan. 17 in RD: Hitmen 5 Rebels 1.  Alex Gogolev scored twice, while Greg Chase had a career high three points (1g 2a).
-Jan. 22 in CAL: Hitmen 4 Rebels 2.  Chase Clayton scored twice while Brooks Macek had two assists.
-Feb. 4 in RD: Hitmen 6 Rebels 2.  Jimmy Bubnick had a career high five points (2g 3a).
-March 6 in RD: Hitmen 3 Rebels 2.  Brandon Glover made 33 saves.
                                                         INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal:  CAL 169  RD 159  Powerplays: CAL 1-16 (6.3%) RD 4-22 (18.2%)
MAGIC NUMBER:  Calgary needs just a single point or to have Kootenay drop just a single point to clinch home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.  A points tie in the overall standings would go to Calgary as the WHL imposed tie breaker goes to the team with the most wins.

WHAT'S LEFT:  Following today's game the Hitmen host Lethbridge on Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a home and home against the Kootenay Ice Friday (in Cranbrook) and Saturday (in Calgary). 
TOP SCORERS:

Calgary
Jimmy Bubnick 31g 37a 68pts
Cody Sylvester 23g 43a 66pts
Victor Rask 31g 26a 57pts

Red Deer
John Persson 22g 32a 54pts
Matthew Dumba 20g 33a 53pts
Turner Elson 21g 25a 46pts

Calgary 6 Lethbridge 3

Lethbridge, AB – Trevor Cheek had a pair of goals leading the Calgary Hitmen to a 6-3 win on the road Friday night over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Collin Bowman scored the game winner for Calgary snapping a 3-3 third period tie with just under nine minutes remaining.

                                      Photo Credit: Lethbridge Hurricanes

Victor Rask, Brady Brassart and Jaynen Rissling also scored in the win while Danny Gayle and Chase Clayton both chipped in a pair of assists.

Max Moline, Jaimen Yakubowski and Sam Mckechnie replied for Lethbridge who outshot the Hitmen 42-40.

The win improves Calgary’s record to 41-24-2-1 and lowers their magic number to clinch home ice advantage in the first round of the WHL playoffs to two.  Any combination of Calgary wins and Kootenay losses over the final four games of the regular season totaling two and the Hitmen will open the post season at Scotiabank Saddledome. 

At 85 points Calgary is fourth in the Eastern Conference, two points back of third place Medicine Hat and five points up on fifth place Kootenay.

The Hitmen return to action at home on Sunday against the Red Deer Rebels.  Game time is 4:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.

For information on ticket packages including Flex Packs or Group Tickets, call Customer Service at 403-777-4646.

Calgary Hitmen 6 at Lethbridge Hurricanes 3
Friday, March 9, 2012 - Enmax Centre - Lethbridge, AB

Calgary 2 1 3 - 6
Lethbridge 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period
1, Calgary, Cheek 21 (Clayton, Bubnick), 9:49.
2, Calgary, Rask 31 (Gayle, Humphries), 12:47.
3, Lethbridge, Yakubowski 15 (Johnston), 17:20.
Penalties-Brassart Cal (high sticking), 1:34; Sylvester Cal (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 5:43; Erkamps Let (major-fighting), 5:43; Sutherland Cal (major-fighting), 12:49; Galbraith Let (major-fighting), 12:49.

2nd Period
4, Calgary, Brassart 23 (Clayton), 6:15.
5, Lethbridge, Mckechnie 12 (Hood, Buonassisi), 8:06.
Penalties-Erkamps Let (holding), 16:15.

3rd Period
6, Lethbridge, Moline 2 (Duke), 3:01.
7, Calgary, Bowman 14 (Rask), 11:25.
8, Calgary, Cheek 22 (Sylvester), 12:47.
9, Calgary, Rissling 4 (Gogolev, Gayle), 19:12 (EN).
Penalties-Rissling Cal (major-fighting), 4:24; Hood Let (major-fighting), 4:24; Gogolev Cal (hooking), 17:05; Merkley Let (inter. on goaltender), 17:05; Sutter Let (10-minute misconduct), 19:12.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 8-19-13-40. Lethbridge 16-10-16-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 1; Lethbridge 0 / 2.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 22-11-2-1 (42 shots-39 saves). Lethbridge, Ketlo 18-23-0-0 (39 shots-34 saves).
A-4,085
Referees-Ryan Bonnett (39), Jonathan Spurgeon (7).
Linesmen-Matthew Barker (118), Steve Cochrane (125).

Calgary at Lethbridge

The Calgary Hitmen (40-24-2-1) wrap up a three game road trip tonight against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (27-39-0-1).  Internet Broadcast on Sportsnet960.ca begins at 7:00 p.m.  The Hitmen are coming off Tuesday’s 3-2 win in Red Deer.  Jimmy Bubnick, Brady Brassart and Chase Clayton all scored for Calgary who built period leads of 1-0 and 2-1.  Brandon Glover made 33 saves in a third star performance while Victor Rask, Brock Sutherland and Collin Bowman were all +2.  Lethbridge meanwhile opened a three game home stand Tuesday night with a 2-1 win over Moose Jaw.  The Hurricanes were out shot 38-17 but Damien Ketlo made 37 saves in a first star performance. 

At 83 points, Calgary is fourth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, trailing third place Medicine Hat by two points while leading fifth place Kootenay by three.  All three teams have five games remaining on their regular season schedule.  Lethbridge has 55 points to sit 11th in the conference.  They will miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.

                                                Photo Credit: Brad Watson

VS. LETHBRIDGE:  Tonight is the fifth of six meetings with the Hurricanes.  Calgary is 2-1-1-0 against the ‘Canes.  Three times Calgary has fired a season high 47 shots in a single game against Lethbridge.  The team scoring first has won three of the four meetings.  Over the last five seasons Calgary is 7-5-2-0 in their last 14 visits to the Enmax Centre.  This season they are winless (0-1-1-0) in two visits.  Alex Gogolev tops the Hitmen with eight points (3g 5a) in the season series while Brady Brassart (4g 2a) and Victor Rask (3g 3a) have six points each.  The recently traded Cam Braes leads Lethbridge in scoring against the Hitmen with eight points (5g 3a) while Brody Sutter is next with six (2g 4a). 
-Sept. 30 in Leth: Hurricanes 6 Hitmen 5.  Brandon Anderson made 42 saves in the ‘Canes net.  Jay Merkely 2g 1a.
-Nov. 13 in Cal: Hitmen 6 Hurricanes 2.  Alex Gogolev 2g 2a.
- Dec. 14 in Leth: Hurricanes 6 Hitmen 5 OT.  Cam Braes forced sudden death with 25 seconds remaining leading to Graham Hood’s winner 21 seconds into the extra session.
-Jan. 8 in Cal: Hitmen 6 Hurricanes 3.  Brady Brassart (2g 1) and Brooks Macek (1g 2a) both had three points each.
                                                               INSIDE THE SERIES
SHOTS ON GOAL: Cal 170 Leth 120  POWERPLAYS: Cal 7-20 (35%) Leth 5-16 (31.3%)
They will close out their season series Wednesday, March 14th in Calgary.

ROAD WARRIORS:  Calgary holds a record of 10-3-0-0 in their last 13 road contests.  Following tonight the Hitmen have just one road game left in the regular season, next Friday in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 20-12-2-0 on the road this season while Lethbridge is 17-17-0-0 at home.

DID YOU KNOW?  11 Hitmen have at least 10 or more goals this season, including five players with more than 20.  A year ago only seven Hitmen hit the double digit goals total. 

PLAYOFF BOUND:  After missing the playoffs last season, Calgary his heading back to the post season for the 14th time in their 17 year history.  Calgary’s magic number to clinch home ice advantage in the opening round is four.  Any combination of Calgary wins combined with Kootenay losses totalling four means the Hitmen will open the playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome.

STREAKS:  None.  Alex Gogolev (2g, 4a) had his six-game point streak snapped Tuesday in Red Deer.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT:  The Hitmen have added their first round pick from the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft to the roster for the remainder of the season.  15-year-old Jake Virtanen had 39 points (17g 22a) in 39 games this season with the Fraser Valley Bruins.

FINAL PUSH:  Since returning from the Christmas break, the Hitmen are 23-9-0-0.  Following tonight’s campaign, four games remain in the 2011-12 regular season.  Calgary returns to Scotiabank Saddledome to host the Rebels on Sunday at 4pm before welcoming the Hurricanes next Wednesday. The Hitmen will then wrap up the regular season with a home-and-home series against Kootenay, starting Friday, March 16 in Cranbrook and concluding Saturday, March 17 on home ice.

Calgary 3 Red Deer 2

Red Deer, AB – Brandon Glover made 33 saves as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Red Deer Rebels 3-2 Tuesday night at Enmax Centrium.

Jimmy Bubnick in the first period, Brady Brassart in the second and Chase Clayton in the third all scored for Calgary who built period leads of 1-0 and 2-1.

Tyson Ness and Matthew Dumba replied for the Rebels.

Calgary outshot Red Deer 43-35.

The win is Calgary’s 40th of the season improving their record to 40-24-2-1.

At 83 points and with five games remaining in the regular season, Calgary moves five points ahead of Kootenay in the battle for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the opening round of the WHL playoffs.  The Hitmen also pull within two points of Medicine Hat for third place, however both the Tigers and Ice have a game in hand.

Calgary returns to action Friday night in Lethbridge for a date with the Hurricanes before returning home Sunday to host the Rebels in a rematch.  Sunday’s game is a 4:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Calgary Hitmen 3 at Red Deer Rebels 2
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - Enmax Centrium - Red Deer, AB

Calgary 1 1 1 - 3
Red Deer 0 1 1 - 2

1st Period
1, Calgary, Bubnick 31 (Cheek), 5:28.
Penalties-Sylvester Cal (major-fighting), 2:33; Bricker R.d (major-fighting), 2:33; Petrovic R.d (roughing), 6:56; Dumba R.d (clipping), 9:07; Fafard R.d (delay of game), 10:28; Gogolev Cal (high sticking, high sticking), 11:16; Bowman Cal (roughing), 20:00; Persson R.d (roughing), 20:00.

2nd Period
2, Red Deer, Ness 18 (Robinson, Dumba), 1:29.
3, Calgary, Brassart 22   9:53.
Penalties-Bowman Cal (roughing), 15:32; Bricker R.d (hooking), 15:32.

3rd Period
4, Calgary, Clayton 12 (Chase, Brooks), 17:32.
5, Red Deer, Dumba 19 (Kambeitz), 19:55.
Penalties-Kambeitz R.d (10-minute misconduct), 19:55; Rissling Cal (major-fighting), 20:00; Petrovic R.d (major-fighting), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 13-16-14-43. Red Deer 11-8-16-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 3; Red Deer 0 / 2.
Goalies-Calgary, Glover 19-12-0-0 (35 shots-33 saves). Red Deer, Dubyk 16-16-1-2 (43 shots-40 saves).
A-3,981
Referees-Ryan Bonnett (39), Trevor Hanson (19).
Linesmen-Sean Donnelly (109), Aidan Henderson (78).

Calgary at Red Deer

The Calgary Hitmen (39-24-2-1) are on the road tonight to face the Red Deer Rebels (30-29-1-5).  Internet Broadcast on Sportsnet960.ca starts at 7:00 p.m. from Enmax Centrium.  Calgary is coming off Saturday's 2-1 loss in Cranbrook to the Kootenay Ice while Red Deer also last played Saturday beating Saskatoon 4-1. 

With six games left in the regular season, the Hitmen are currently fourth in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 81 points, four back of third place Medicine Hat and three points up on fifth place Kootenay, however the Ice have a game in hand.  Red Deer meanwhile is ninth in the conference with 66 points, sitting eight points back of Brandon for the final playoff spot.  I'm sure many Rebels fans are thinking if only we played in the Western Conference.  Red Deer would be sixth in the west, having already clinched a post season berth.

                                                  Photo Credit: Brad Watson

Tonight is the fifth of six meetings between the two clubs.  Calgary leads the season series 3-1 having outscored the Rebels by a combined 17-9.  Jimmy Bubnick (3g 6a) leads all Hitmen with nine points against Red Deer.  Cody Sylvester (1g 4a) is next with five.  John Persson (2g 3a) tops the Rebels with five points against Calgary while Matthew Dumba (2g 1a), Colton Mayor (1g 2a) and Flames prospect Turner Elson (3a) all have three points each. 
-Oct. 7 in CAL: Rebels 4 Hitmen 2.  Colton Mayor and John Persson each had a goal and an assist for the Rebels.
-Jan. 17 in RD: Hitmen 5 Rebels 1.  Alex Gogolev scored twice, while Greg Chase had a career high three points (1g 2a).
-Jan. 22 in CAL: Hitmen 4 Rebels 2.  Chase Clayton scored twice while Brooks Macek had two assists.
-Feb. 4 in RD: Hitmen 6 Rebels 2.  Jimmy Bubnick had a career high five points (2g 3a).
                                                         INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal:  CAL 126  RD 124  Powerplays: CAL 1-13 (7.7%) RD 4-20 (20%)

STREAKIN': Alex Gogolev (2g 4a) has tied his career high with points in six straight games.  Cody Sylvester (3g) has scored in back-to-back games.  Victor Rask (7g 4a) had his career high eight game point scoring streak snapped Saturday against Kootenay.  On the Red Deer side there are no current point streaks.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 19-12-2-0 on the road this season while Red Deer is 15-14-1-2 at home.

WHAT'S LEFT:  Following tonight's game the Hitmen visit Lethbridge Friday.  They then return home to host Red Deer Sunday at 4pm and Lethbridge next Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a home and home against the Kootenay Ice next Friday (in Cranbrook) and Saturday (in Calgary). 

SPOTLIGHT:  Hitmen defenceman Collin Bowman currently leads all Hitmen defencemen with 43 points (13g 30).  He's also 16th among defenceman scoring leaders in the WHL.  Tonight will be the 341st career regular season game for the 20-year-old who has also played for Kelowna and Moose Jaw.

TOP SCORERS:

Calgary
Jimmy Bubnick 30g 36a 66pts
Cody Sylvester 23g 42a 65pts
Victor Rask 30g 25a 55pts

Red Deer
John Persson 22g 32a 54pts
Matthew Dumba 18g 30a 48pts
Turner Elson 21g 25a 46pts

Kootenay 2 Calgary 1

Cranbrook, BC – Brock Montgomery scored the game winning goal at 2:22 of the third period on a two-on-one rush lifting the Kootenay Ice to a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen Saturday night at the Cranbrook Rec-Plex.

After a scoreless first period, Calgary opened the scoring early in the second when Cody Sylvester potted his 23rd goal of the season on a partial break off the left wing.

The Ice pulled even just past the midway mark of the frame as Sam Reinhart converted on a rebound chance for his 27th goal of his rookie campaign.

Chris Driedger made 23 saves in the Hitmen net and took the loss while Nathan Lieuwen stopped 22 for the Ice who improve to 5-1 against Calgary in the season series. 

The Hitmen are now 39-24-2-1.  At 81 points they remain fourth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference three points up on the fifth place Ice who have a game in hand.

Calgary returns to action Tuesday night in Red Deer against the Rebels. 

Next Hitmen home game is Sunday, March 11th when Calgary hosts Red Deer at 4:00 p.m.

For information on ticket packages including Flex Packs or Group Tickets, call Customer Service at 403-777-4646.

Calgary Hitmen 1 at Kootenay Ice 2
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - Cranbrook Rec. Complex - Cranbrook, BC

Calgary 0 1 0 - 1
Kootenay 0 1 1 - 2

1st Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-Bowman Cal (delay of game), 0:15; Cheek Cal (hooking), 1:13; Rissling Cal (tripping), 10:23; Martin Ktn (holding), 13:57.

2nd Period
1, Calgary, Sylvester 23 (Gogolev), 4:00.
2, Kootenay, Reinhart 27 (Ismond), 12:59.
Penalties-Ismond Ktn (roughing), 14:53; served by Ktn (too many men), 18:13.

3rd Period
3, Kootenay, Montgomery 20 (Reinhart, Antilla), 2:23.
Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Calgary 7-7-11-25. Kootenay 10-5-8-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 3; Kootenay 0 / 3.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 21-11-2-1 (23 shots-21 saves). Kootenay, Lieuwen 26-16-4-2 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-3,708
Referees-Tyler Adair (58), Brett Iverson (24).
Linesmen-Reid Anderson (53), Scott Sharun (103).

Calgary at Kootenay

One night after clinching a playoff spot for the 14th time in their 17 year history, the Calgary Hitmen (39-23-2-1) go for their 40th win of the season on the road in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice (34-22-4-4).  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 7:00 p.m. The Hitmen wrapped up a five game homestand last night with a 4-3 OT win over Saskatoon while Kootenay hasn't played since Wednesday's 3-1 home ice loss to Edmonton.

Calgary enters the game fourth in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 81 points, four back of third place Medicine Hat and five points ahead of fifth place Kootenay.  If the playoffs started today the Hitmen would face the Ice in the opening round and have home ice advantage.

                                         Photo Credit: Chris Pullen, cranbrookphoto.com

VS. KOOTENAY: Tonight is the sixth of eight meetings.  Kootenay leads the season series 4-1 having outscored Calgary by a combined 17-8.  Brooks Macek (2g), Danny Gayle (1g, 1a), Victor Rask (1g, 1a), Brady Brassart (2a) and Jaynen Rissling (2a) all have two points each to lead the Hitmen in the season series.  Brock Montgomery tops all Ice with seven points (7a) against Calgary while goaltender Nathan Lieuwen sports a 1.40 goals against average and a .948 save percentage stopping 127 of 134 shots.  Lieuwen also leads the WHL with a 2.39 goals against average.  The Hitmen and Ice will close out the regular season with a home and home series March 16th and 17th.
-Sept. 24 in KTN: Ice 5 Hitmen 1.  Calgary out shot Kootenay 30-18 in the loss.
-Oct. 2 in CAL: Hitmen 4 Ice 2. Calgary erased a 2-1 third period deficit.  Victor Rask and Danny  Gayle led the Hitmen scoring attack with two points (1g, 1a) each.
-Oct. 23 in CAL: Ice 4 Hitmen 2.  Kootenay jumped out to a 3-0 second period lead.
-Feb. 3 in KTN:  Ice 2 Hitmen 1.  Sam Reinhart scored the game winner, his second of the game, with just one second left in regulation.
-Feb. 12 in CAL: Ice 4 Hitmen 0.  Nathan Lieuwen made 26 saves to record his third shutout of the season.
                                                  INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CAL 135  KTN 115   Powerplays: CAL 2-23 (8.7%)  KTN 4-20 (20%)

STREAKIN': Victor Rask (7g 4a) is on a career high eight game point scoring streak.  Alex Gogolev (2g 3a) has points in five straight.  Jimmy Bubnick (2g 2a) is on a three game run.  Spencer Humphries (1g 3a) and Collin Bowman (2a) both have points in back-to-back games.  On the Kootenay side Max Reinhart (3g 2a) and Sam Reinhart (1g 1a) both have points in back-to-back games. 

ICE DOMINANCE:  Dating back to last season Kootenay is 11-2 in their last 13 meetings with Calgary.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 19-11-2-0 on the road this season while Kootenay is 18-11-1-2 at home.

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).

Saskatoon at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen (38-23-2-1) close out a five game homestand tonight against the Saskatoon Blades (36-25-0-2).  The Hitmen, winners of six of their last seven, are coming off Wednesday's 5-4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos.  The Blades, with just two wins in their last eight (2-5-0-1), haven't played since last Saturday's 4-3 home ice shootout loss to Red Deer.

Calgary enters the night fourth in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 79 points, four back of third place Medicine Hat, and three points up on fifth place Kootenay.  Saskatoon is sixth in the conference with 74 points, trailing Kootenay by two points but just a single point ahead of Regina for seventh.

                                               Photo Credit: Steve Hiscock

Tonight is the fourth and final regular season meeting.  Saskatoon leads the season series 2-1.  Jimmy Bubnick (3g 2a) and Cody Sylvester (2g 3a) both have five points each against Saskatoon.  The Blades are led by Josh Nicholls (2g 3a) and Matej Stransky (1g 4a) who both have five points each against Calgary. 
-Nov. 2 in SASK:  Blades 4 Hitmen 1.  Andrey Makarov made 39 saves in a first star performance.
-Nov. 20 in CAL: Blades 6 Hitmen 5.  Lukas Sutter scored twice including the game winner.
-Nov. 25 in SASK: Hitmen 6 Blades 2.  Jimmy Bubnick scored twice. 
                                                         INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal: CAL 122 SASK 97  Powerplays: CAL 2-12 (16.7%)  SASK 1-12 (8.3%)

STREAKIN': Victor Rask (6g 4a) is on a career high seven game point scoring streak.  Alex Gogolev (2g 2a) has points in four straight.  Jimmy Bubnick (1g 1a) and Alex Roach (2a) both have points in back-to-back games.  Brandon Glover has won his last two starts stopping 48 of 52 shots for a .923 save percentage.  On the Saskatoon side Josh Nicholls (2g 5a) is on a five game point streak.  Brent Benson (2g) has scored in two straight games while Dalton Thrower (1g 1a) has points in back-to-back games.  2012 World Junior Silver Medallist Andrey Makarov has been a work horse in Saskatoon starting the last 15 straight games in goal.

FAMILIAR FACE:  The Saskatoon Blades defence features #4 Kyle Schmidt.  The Waldheim, Saskatchewan product was acquired by the Blades from Calgary on September 15th, 2011 in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.  Schmidt has nine points (2g 7a) in 52 games this season and is also a +6.

POST CHRISTMAS RUN:  Calgary dropped their first game after the Christmas Break in Prince George, since that time in their last 29 games they have gone 21-7.

DID YOU KNOW?  Calgary's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two.  Any combination of Hitmen wins combined with Red Deer losses totalling two and Calgary officially clinches a berth in the 2012 post season.  It could happen tonight as the Rebels are also in action hosting Swift Current.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 19-12-0-1 on home ice this season while Saskatoon is 13-15-0-1 on the road.

SPOTLIGHT:  Hitmen defenceman Spencer Humphries is coming off a three point night (1g 2a) in Calgary's Wednesday victory over Swift Current.  It's the third time this season the assistant captain has notched three points in a single game.  The 19-year-old, who came over from Tri-City at the January 2011 WHL Trade Deadline, was named the clubs top defenceman last season.  In 54 games this season, #5 has a career high 33 points (7g 26a).  His +16 rating is also a personal best.

TOP SCORERS:

Calgary
Jimmy Bubnick 29g 35a 64pts
Cody Sylvester 20g 42a 62pts
Victor Rask 29g 25a 54pts

Saskatoon
Matej Stransky 34g 30a 64pts
Josh Nicholls 25g 30a 55pts
Michael Burns 23g 32a 55pts

INJURIES:

Calgary
#9, Jaynen Rissling, Lower body, day to day
#11, Brooks Macek, Upper body, 1 week

Saskatoon
#2, Matt Pufahl, Lower body, 3 weeks
#3, Connor Cox, Lower body, 2 weeks
#5, Duncan Siemens, Upper body, 1 week