Hitmen tie up series with pair of home wins

After losing the first two games of their first round playoff series, the Calgary Hitmen were in tough. But after a pair of big home wins over the Lethbridge Hurricanes, they’re very much in the thick of things.

The Hitmen got a lead in the first period and never gave it up, despite the Hurricanes’ best efforts at a third period comeback. Ryder Korczak, Carson Focht and Josh Prokop spotted the Hitmen to a 3-0 lead before Lethbridge made a game of things in the second half.

Focht added a second goal that stood up as the game winner and Luke Coleman added an empty netter, while 2019 NHL Draft top prospect Dylan Cozens had a pair for the Hurricanes in the loss.

In another game where the Hitmen never trailed, this one was fairly back and forth. The Hitmen had 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but the Hurricanes kept pressing and they went into the third period knotted up at 2-2. But the Hitmen scored a pair of goals in the third period to take the lead and locked this one down.

The Hitmen got goals from Leafs prospect Riley Stotts, Predators prospect Vladislav Yeryomenko, James Malm and Josh Prokop. But the bigger reason they won was a standout performance from Jack McNaughton, who made 37 saves for the victory – including a few in the third period that were very impressive.

With the series all tied up at 2-2, the Hitmen and Hurricanes head back to Lethbridge for Game 5 on Saturday evening. Game 6 is back in Calgary on Sunday afternoon.