Hitmen stay hot in Manitoba, topping Wheat Kings 3-1 to take commanding lead

The Calgary Hitmen in action Tuesday night against the Brandon Wheat Kings in a playoff game played in Virden, Manitoba.

The Calgary Hitmen have taken a commanding three games to none lead in their opening round Western Hockey League (WHL) playoff series against Brandon.

Game 3 was played Tuesday night in Virden, Man., because a rodeo kicked the Wheat Kings out of their hometown arena.

The Hitmen opened the scoring with just over a minute left in the first period. Andrei Molgachev stepped over the blue line and blasted one past Filip Ruzicka for his second of the playoffs to give Calgary a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, captain Axel Hurtig slid one over to the red-hot Ethan Moore, who one-timed it past Ruzicka for his fourth of the playoffs, putting the Hitmen up 2-0.

The Wheaties pulled to within one just over a minute later, when Jaxon Jacobson set up Luke Mistelbacher, who tipped it past Eric Tu to make the score 2-1.

Tu was solid again in goal for the Hitmen, stopping 35 shots, including a late stop against Prabh Bhathai to keep Calgary in the lead.

With the Brandon net empty, Landon Amrhein fired one in to give the Hitmen a 3-1 win.

Game 4 goes Thursday night at Virden, with the Hitmen having a chance to close out the series.

It was an even bigger day for their captain Axel Hurtig, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames.

With files from CTV Calgary’s Glenn Campbell