Hurricanes Edged 3-2 by Tigers on Saturday
Medicine Hat, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a four-game road trip on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers at Co-op Place.
It marked the sixth meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and Tigers. Lethbridge had a great start to the game as they struck early for the second straight night against Medicine Hat as Logan Wormald scored his 11th goal of the season just 1:52 in on a power play – it was the second straight night Wormald tallied a goal on the man advantage; Noah Chadwick and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. The Tigers pushed back after the early goal as they pressed for an equalizer; their best chance coming on a centering pass by Gavin McKenna to Tomas Mrsic who ripped a shot off the goal post. Harrison Meneghin – who made his seventh straight start – turned aside all 11 Tiger shots in the first period while the Hurricanes directed 10 on Ethan McCallum. Lethbridge held a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes of play.
The Tigers took over in the second period as they outshot the Hurricanes 13-4 in the middle frame. Medicine Hat peppered Meneghin and eventually pulled even with a quick shot by Shane Smith who struck for his 20th goal of the season at the 12:46 mark to tie the game 1-1; Hunter St. Martin and Dru Krebs picked up the helpers on the goal. The Tigers struck again just over three-and-a-half minutes later as St. Martin snapped home his 14th goal of the season on a partial odd-man rush down the right wing to put Medicine Hat ahead 2-1 with 3:45 left in the second period. The ‘Canes had a late power play but couldn’t strike for an equalizer before the man advantage was cut short as Medicine Hat led 2-1 after two periods.
In the third period, the Tigers continued to push and added to their lead just 2:53 into the frame as Smith talled his second of the night – and 21st goal of the season – on a centering pass from Oasiz Wiesblatt; Gavin McKenna earned the second assist to extend his point streak to six-straight games. The Hurricanes had a pair of power play chances midway through the period, but couldn’t cash in. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender with just over two-minutes left for the extra attacker and the ‘Canes found a goal as Dylan Sydor scored his second goal in as many games – and team-leading 21st of the season – to close the gap to 3-2; Logan McCutcheon and Wormald picked up the assists on the tally to make it a one-goal game. The ‘Canes pulled the goaltender again, but on the entry to the attacking zone Lethbridge was assessed a penalty which thwarted any hopes of an equalizer as the Tigers steered home the one-goal victory running down the clock up a man en route to the 3-2 win.
The Hurricanes were outshot 12-5 in the third period and 36-19 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/5 on the power play while Medicine Hat was 1/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Tigers – #19 Shane Smith (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #35 Harrison Meneghin (33-saves)
3) Tigers – #16 Hunter St. Martin (1 goal, 1 assist)
The defeat for the Hurricanes ended a two-game winning streak as they fell to 8-10-0-0 on the road this season. Lethbridge fell to 20-17-3-0 on the year while falling to 3-3-0-0 to Medicine Hat this season. The ‘Canes are now 5-2-1-0 in eight games since returning from the Christmas Break.
The Hurricanes will continue a four-game road trip on Wednesday when they visit the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Moose Jaw Events Centre at 6:00pm MT. The ‘Canes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Friday, January 26th when they welcome the Regina Pats at 7:00pm on Brent Seabrook Wall of Honour night. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
