By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Hitmen top Hurricanes for second straight night

Mar 11, 2017 | 9:58 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The more desperate team came out on top again for the second night in a row, as the Calgary Hitmen continued their late season push for a playoff spot – a task they have accomplished, at least for the moment.

A night after beating the Hurricanes 4-3 in Calgary, the Hitmen came into Lethbridge and downed the home team 5-2 Saturday night (Mar. 11). The win allowed them to leap-frog Saskatoon for the second Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference.

The two clubs went toe-to-toe in the first, firing a combined 28 shots on net in the period.

Calgary’s Tyler Mrkonjic opened the scoring at the 8:57 mark, with Lethbridge defenceman Calen Addison evening things up five minutes later. Just over a minute after that, the Hitmen would retake the lead, only to surrender it again as Jordy Bellerive picked up his 26th of the season two minutes later.

The rest of the scoring in the game would come from Calgary, with one in the second and two more in the third – one of which was on an empty net.

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For the Hurricanes, the loss marks only the second time they have dropped back-to-back games in 2017. Since losing their first two in January, the team has been on a remarkable run. Even with the two set-backs to Calgary, they’ve still managed to take at least one point from 24 of their last 28 games, dating back to the calendar flip.

That run has them sitting second in the Central Division with a playoff spot locked up, and just six points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers – who topped Edmonton 4-0 Saturday night.

Only three games remain on the schedule for Lethbridge, with the Kootenay Ice next up Wednesday (Mar. 15) at home. They will then close out the regular season with a home-and-home series with the Tigers next weekend.