Hitmen Clinch First Win of US Road Trip with OT Win Over Thunderbirds
Oliver Tulk scored a power play goal 1:54 into overtime to push the Calgary Hitmen past the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 on Friday night at accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Washington.
The victory marked Calgary’s tenth consecutive road win over the Thunderbirds in the Pacific Northwest dating back to 2004 and also kicked off a six-game U.S. Division road trip for the visitors
The Hitmen never trailed as Ben Kindel and Carson Wetsch staked Calgary to a 2-0 second period lead before Hunter Aura gave the Hitmen an early 3-2 third period bulge.
Defenceman Carter Yakemchuk skated in his 200th career Western Hockey League game and recorded a pair of assists which included the primary helper on Tulk’s game winner.
Calgary outshot Seattle 39-21 including 19-5 over the game’s final 21:54 as rookie goaltender Eric Tu made 18 saves to pick up the victory.
Coster Dunn led the Seattle attack with a pair of goals while Braeden Cootes forced the extra session by netting the tying goal with 10:34 remaining.
The Hitmen, 7-6-2-1, will resume their road trip tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 with a stop in Everett against the Silvertips. The journey will then take Calgary to Kennewick to face the Tri-City Americans on Monday, Nov. 11 before stops in Portland (Nov. 13), Spokane (Nov. 15) and Wenatchee (Nov. 16). Their next home game isn’t until Friday, Nov. 22 when they welcome Victoria to the ‘Dome for a 7:00 p.m. start.
