Connor Rankin had a four point night to lead the Calgary Hitmen over the Swift Current Broncos 6-4 on Friday night.

The lead changed several times as Swift Current was up 4-3 in the third period before a Travis Sanheim shorthanded goal turned momentum in Calgary's favour again.

The Broncos came out of the gates with good energy and the first three good scoring chances of the game. Mack Shields stopped Tanner LeSann twice and Cavin Leth once to keep Swift Current off the board as the Broncos were putting the pressure on.

Momentum shifted thanks to the Ranking, Elliott Peterson and Chase Lang line. They pinned the Broncos in deep and Rankin put home the rebound of the Travis Sanheim shot to give Calgary a 1-0 lead. The goal completely turned momentum as Calgary ended up outshooting the Broncos 19-8 in the first period.

Swift Current evened the score on a nice forecheck by Colby Cave to steal a puck from Michael Zipp and set Jake DeBrusk up. DeBrusk then made a nice move to his backhand in tight for the equalizer.

That tie didn't last long as Jake Bean's point shot hit off Brycen Martin's stick in front and was knocked out of the air by Rankin beore Lang put it behind Bow.

Midway through the second period the Broncos and Hitmen traded three goals in 48 seconds. Coda Gordon first put home the rebound of a Dillon Heatherington point shot to tie the game at two. Kenton Helgeson quickly responded by bouncing a puck off Heatherington into the Swift Current net restoring Calgary's 3-2 lead. Only seconds later the Broncos tied it again when Carter Rigby managed to knock a Tanner LeSann pass out of the air and behind Shields for a 3-3 tie.

Swift Current took the lead early in the third period on a Brett Lernout one-timer. They then had an opportunity to extend the lead on a power play, but Rigby's stick broke on a point shot and the Hitmen counter attacked for the equalizer.

Lang put Calgary ahead midway through the third period as he fired a bad angle shot over Landon Bow's shoulder for his second of the game. Rankin then put the game away with an empty net goal in the final minute.

Calgary outshot Swift Current 49-30 while holding the Broncos to 0 for 4 on the man advantage.

Swift Current will try to find a win on their three-game Alberta trip when they visit Red Deer on Saturday night. You can hear the game on The Eagle 94.1 FM at 7:30pm.