Hurricanes Outgunned by Oil Kings to Open Homestand
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a four-game homestand on Wednesday with an 8-6 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes entered with an 0-1-0-0 record against the Oil Kings this season. Newly acquired forward Owen Berge made his ‘Canes debut after being acquired on Monday from the Moose Jaw Warriors. It was a wild opening period which saw the two teams combine for eight goals. Edmonton opened the scoring just 2:51 into the game when Landon Hanson potted his third goal of the year to make it 1-0. Just 11-seconds later, the Oil Kings struck again to double their lead as Luke Powell ripped a shot short-side to put Edmonton in front just 3:02 into the game. Edmonton opened a three-goal lead at the 5:04 mark as Lukas Sawchyn buried his seventh goal of the season on a power play to make it a 3-0 Oil Kings advantage early in the game. The Hurricanes answered back striking for a man advantage goal of their own at the 6:47 mark when Hudson Kibblewhite – who returned to the lineup after missing four games due to injury – redirected a Luke Cozens shot for his team-leading fourth power play goal of the season cutting the Edmonton lead to 3-2. The ‘Canes added another power play goal at the 9:37 mark as Logan Wormald ripped home his seventh goal of the season to pull Lethbridge to within a goal; Cozens and Shane Smith picked up the assists on the goal. The teams continued to trade chances as just 16-seconds after the Wormald goal, Poul Andersen buried his sixth of the year restoring a two-goal Edmonton lead. Lethbridge pulled back to within a goal with 2:42 remaining in the period when a puck deflected off Carsen Adair for his first of the season, however, a goal with 9.3-seconds left in the period by Joe Iginla gave Edmonton a 5-3 advantage after one period. Lethbridge was outshot 16-9 by Edmonton in the first period.
The Oil Kings kept their foot on the gas to start the second period as just 39-seconds into the frame Dylan Dean cut to the net before tucking home his fifth goal of the season to give Edmonton a 6-3 lead; Andersen and Max Curran were credited with the assists. Dean struck again at the 6:57 mark to expand the Oil Kings lead to 7-3 before the midway point of the game. Koen Cleaver, who made the start, was lifted from the game in favour of affiliate call-up goaltender Brody Rotar. The former fifth-round draft pick of the Hurricanes was strong in relief stopping all eight shots he saw in the second period, including a sequence of three consecutive stops near the end of the period to keep the Hurricanes within four goals as they trailed 7-3 after forty minutes of play. The Oil Kings dominated the shots in the second period outshooting them 16-3.
In the third period, the Hurricanes peppered the Oil Kings outshooting them 17-6 in the final period. The Hurricanes jumped on the board making it a 7-4 game at the 3:31 mark when Luke Cozens scored his ninth goal of the season finishing a three-way passing play from Easton Daneault and Logan Wormald. Cozens struck again on a power play goal his team-leading 10th of the season – and fourth multi-goal game of the year – at the 9:39 mark to make it a two-goal lead; Smith and Will Scott earned the assists on the ‘Canes third power play goal of the night. Lethbridge continued to press in hopes of pulling to within a goal, but a dump in by the Oil Kings popped in front of the net when Rotar exited the net to play the puck for Adam Jecho who scored the eighth goal of the night for Edmonton giving them an 8-5 lead. Lethbridge struck again in the final minute of the game when Berge banged home a rebound for his first goal as a Hurricanes in his debut to make it an 8-6 final; Daneault and Nathan Maloney earned the assists as the ‘Canes suffered their fourth-straight defeat.
The Hurricanes were outshot 38-29 in the game by the Oil Kings. Lethbridge went 3/5 on the power setting a new season-high for power play goals while Edmonton was 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #11 Luke Cozens (2 goals, 2 assists)
2) Oil Kings – #8 Max Curran (3 assists)
3) Oil Kings – #14 Dylan Dean (2 goals)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their fourth-straight loss as they fell to 1-6-0-1 on home ice this season. Lethbridge’s overall record dipped to 3-12-0-1 this year through 16 games while falling to 3-7-0-0 against Central Division opponents.
The Hurricanes will continue their four-game homestand on Saturday when they welcome the Tri-City Americans at 6:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
