Sam Steel scores hat trick in Pats' 5-2 win over Calgary

Sam Steel scores a hat trick and Tyler Brown made 41 saves as the Pats blew past the Hitmen 5-2 Tuesday night.

After two successful home stands against Calgary the Pats have pushed the Hitmen to the brink of elimination, going up 3-0 in the series.

Steel started his three goal night off early with a goal just one minute into the first period with a feed from Dawson Leedahl and he didn’t let off the gas all night.

He got back on the board about eight minutes later with a pass from Sergey Zborovskiy and put the Pats up to an early 2-0 lead.

Next it was Wyatt Sloboshan’s turn, who capitalized on a Calgary penalty, getting past Kyle Dumba to give the Pats a 3-0 score heading into the first intermission.

Calgary turned up the pressure a notch in the second and third period, but the scoreboard didn’t reflect the added pressure. The Hitmen outshot the Pats 16-11, but didn’t get anything past goaltender Tyler Brown.

In fact, it was Leedahl who was able to get on the board in the second with just three minutes left in the period. The Pats took a 4-0 lead into the third.

Steel came out firing again in the third, scoring an unassisted short-handed goal after getting the puck off a Tyler Brown save.

Despite the 5-0 lead, however, the Hitmen weren’t finished with the Pats adding two goals before the end of the game.

The Pats and Hitmen square off in Game 4 on Thursday in Calgary.

A win will send the Pats on to the second round of the playoffs.