One of the robberies occurred near Rexall Place where the Edmonton Oilers were playing a home game Monday night. (CBC)Police have arrested and charged two youths and seized a semi-automatic handgun after a series of robberies that occurred within 25 minutes Monday night in central and northeast Edmonton.

"It's certainly unique when a series of robberies occurs in such a short period of time involving the same alleged suspects," police spokeswoman Karen Carlson said. "I think it was just our officers happened to be in the right place at the right time."

The first robbery occurred at 118th Ave. and 80th St. just before 6:30 p.m. where two males held up someone on the street, police said.

The two robbers fled, but ten minutes later, police were called about a second robbery near Rexall Place allegedly committed by two males matching their description who fled toward a nearby LRT station.

At about 6:50 p.m., police were called about a third robbery, this time at a liquor store on 50th Street and 137th Avenue.

Two North Division police officers happened to be near the store just as the call came in, and they saw two males running away. They followed the pair to a nearby apartment where they managed to arrest one of them; the second was able to escape.

Using a police dog, police found the second suspect hiding in a dumpster. The dog also helped police recover the weapon, which wasn't loaded, Carlson said.

"Everything definitely worked out for our officers last night," Carlson said. "The series of robberies happening in such a short period of time, plus there was a game on last night — it's certainly very easy for people to disappear in a crowd."

Two youths, 15 and 17, face three counts of robbery and a number of weapons charges.