GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Hockey Town North
Saskatoon, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continue a four-game road stretch tonight at 6:00pm MT when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Hurricanes (31-21-3-3) enter after ending a three-game losing streak last Saturday with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome. Noah Chadwick, Brayden Edwards, Hayden Smith and Logan Wormald scored in the win while Bryan Thomson made 29-saves. The ‘Canes enter tonight with a 13-12-1-2 record this season on the road. Lethbridge sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, sitting five points back of fourth place Moose Jaw.
The Raiders (25-29-3-0) enter having won five of their last six games after earning a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. Niall Crocker scored twice while Landon Kosior, Keaton Sorensen and Sloan Stanick added the other goals in the win; Max Hildebrand made 19-saves in the win. Prince Albert has posted a 13-15-1-0 record at home but have won five of their last six at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference, four points back of a playoff spot.
Tonight will be the final of four meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Raiders; Lethbridge has posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Prince Albert his season as the home team has won all three meetings so far. Tonight’s game can be watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge, on WHL Live or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-03-03 – LET at PA
VS. RAIDERS: Tonight will be the final of four meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Raiders. Lethbridge has posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Prince Albert this season after going 1-3-0-0 in four contests against the Raiders last season. Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 86-73-2-1 with six ties against the Raiders, while going 35-43-2-1 with two ties all-time at the Art Hauser Centre.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 5th/2022 – at Prince Albert (3-0 PA)
October 8th/2022 – at Lethbridge (3-1 LET)
November 9th/2022 – at Lethbridge (2-1 LET)
March 3rd/2022 – at Prince Albert
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 23rd/2021 – at Lethbridge (5-3 LET)
January 14th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-1 PA)
February 12th/2022 – at Prince Albert (3-2 PA)
March 8th/2022 – at Prince Albert (4-0 PA)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (21) – Logan Wormald
Assists (31) – Cole Shepard
Points (51) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (75) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+12) – Chase Pauls
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (2) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.928) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.28) – Bryan Thomson
WHO’S HOT:
– Brayden Edwards has points in 5 of 6 games (3g-3a); 6 of 8 games (3g-4a); 7 of 10 games (3g-5a)
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 3 of 4 games (2g-1a); 4 of 9 games (4g-2a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 6 of 11 games (4g-2a); 19 of 30 games (16g-12a)
– Blake Swetlikoff has points in 2 of 3 games (3g-2a); 8 of 13 games (7g-7a); 17 of 26 games (12g-16a)
– Cole Shepard has points in 2 of 3 games (3a); 7 of 9 games (2g-7a); 11 of 17 games (6g-10a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 2 of 3 games (2a); 3 of 5 games (3a); 6 of 14 games (1g-6a)
– Noah Chadwick has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-2a); 3 of 6 games (1g-3a)
– Anton Astashevich has points in 2 of 3 games (2a); 3 of 6 games (1g-2a)
– Hayden Smith has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 4 of 6 games (2g-2a); 6 of 10 games (3g-3a); 13 of 26 games (10g-6a)
– Jett Jones has points in 2 of 4 games (1g-1a); 5 of 8 games (2g-4a); 28 of 46 games (15g-25a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 6 of 9 games (1g-6a); 9 of 13 games (2g-9a); 11 of 17 games (3g-10a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 3 of 7 games (4a); 4 of 9 games (1g-4a); 5 of 11 games (1g-5a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Chase Pauls is 7 points away from 50 career points
– Nolan Bentham is 7 points away from 50 career points
– Joe Arntsen is 8 games away from 200 career games
– Joe Arntsen is 25 points away from 100 career points
– Logan Wormald is 21 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Zimmer is 14 games away from 150 career games
– Blake Swetlikoff is 1 game away from 150 career games
– Blake Swetlikoff is 19 points away from 100 career points
– Cole Shepard is 1 point away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 8 points away from 100 career points
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 58: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 31-21-3-3 (68 points) on the season after 58 games. The ‘Canes are 18-9-1-2 at home while posting a record of 13-12-2-1 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 26-28-2-2 after 58 contests. Lethbridge 6-2-3-1 in January and went 5-5-0-1 in February.
Magic Number: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes magic number to clinch a WHL post-season berth is just eight points. The ‘Canes would need to get to 76-points to clinch a seventh straight playoff spot. Lethbridge currently sits fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, five points back of fourth place.
30+ Wins: Lethbridge earned their 30th victory of the season on Friday, February 17th against the Brandon Wheat Kings marking the seventh consecutive season (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have record 30-or-more victories in a year. The seven straight years in the longest stretch in Hurricanes history with 30+ wins – previous long was five years from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
20-Goal Guy: Logan Wormald became the first Hurricane to reach the 20-goal mark this season marking the first time in his career he has reached the 20-goal plateau. Wormald enters with a team-high 21 goals on the season. Cole Shepard, Jett Jones and Tyson Laventure all have 19 goals. Last year, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals.
Strong PK: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have allowed just 14 power play goals against in their last 26 games having killed 79-of-93 penalties taken in that span for a kill rate of 84.9%. The ‘Canes have not allowed a power play goal against 15 of their last 26 outings. Lethbridge sits 10th in the WHL in penalty kill percentage this season while holding the second best home PK in the league.
Back-to-Back: Hurricanes netminder Bryan Thomson recorded shutouts in back-to-back starts on February 10th against Medicine Hat and February 15th against Calgary. He became the first ‘Canes goaltender since Stuart Skinner in January of 2016 to record back-to-back shutouts. Thomson had posted 8-2-1-0 record in his last 11 decisions with two shutouts. He has a 2.28 GAA and a .928 SV% this season. Thomson was named the WHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending February 19th.
Rookie Tendy: Hurricanes netminder Harrison Meneghin enters tonight with a 19-12-2-2 record, sitting one win shy of becoming the 14th goalie in ‘Canes history to reach 20-wins in a season – he would become just the fourth rookie goaltender to reach that mark joining Logan Koopmans, Juha Metsola and Carl Tetachuk who previously accomplished the feat. Meneghin enters tonight 17-8-2-2 record in his last 29 starts.
Faceoff King: Jett Jones enters tonight as the WHL leader in faceoffs taken this season with 1,409 draws taken, averaging 24.3 draws per game. Jones has won 20+ faceoffs in a game four times this season, becoming the first Hurricanes centre-man to accomplish that feat on four occasions since the WHL began tracking faceoffs in 2017, surpassing Jake Leschyshyn and Giorgio Estephan – who both did it twice.
