RECAP: Hodnett Has Hat-Trick, but Oil Kings Fall in Overtime to Hitmen
Calgary, Alta. – The Edmonton Oil Kings came back from a two-goal deficit late, but ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
In the first period, it was tightly checked with not a ton of high end scoring chances for either club, but the Oil Kings were outshot 13-9 and the Hitmen were able to capitalize on a turnover as Axel Hurtig made it 1-0.
The second period saw Ethan Simcoe make a number of excellent stops for the Oil Kings to keep things at 1-0 and the Oil Kings were able to give their netminder some run support. It was another shorthanded goal for the Oil Kings that tied the game, this time Gavin Hodnett finished off a pass from Cole Miller for the Oil Kings 13th shorthanded goal of the season.
Play started to open up a bit in the third period with both teams getting chances and the speed picking up. Calgary got the game to 3-1 with goals from Brandon Gorzynski and Carson Wetsch with the third goal coming with less than three minutes to play in the third. Hodnett would come up clutch for Edmonton scoring twice for Edmonton with the net empty in the final two minutes for his second career hat-trick.
That led to overtime where both teams had a few chances, but the Hitmen capitalized as Sawyer Mynio got behind the defence and backhanded one over Ethan Simcoe for the win.
Simcoe ultimately made a WHL career-high 38 saves on 42 shots. The Oil Kings were 0-for-1 on the powerplay and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Edmonton is now 26-19-2-2 on the season, two points back of fifth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
The Oil Kings host Moose Jaw on Saturday.
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