GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Hitmen in First of Four Straight on the Road
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open a four-game road trip this afternoon as they visit the Calgary Hitmen at 2:00pm at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Hurricanes (30-21-3-3) enter on a three-game losing streak after suffering a 6-2 loss to the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night at the ENMAX Centre. Tyson Zimmer and Blake Swetlikoff scored in the defeat while Bryan Thomson made 42-saves in the setback. The loss ended a three-game home winning streak for the Hurricanes. Lethbridge has posted a 12-12-1-2 record away from home this season having lost the last three games away from home. The Hurricanes sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hitmen (24-25-5-2) enter on a two-game losing streak after suffering a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg ICE on Wednesday. Maxim Muranov and Ethan Moore scored in the defeat while Brayden Peters made 27-saves. Calgary enters with a record of 10-10-3-2 at home this season. The Hitmen are 1-8-0-1 in their last ten games and have just two wins over their last 2-13-1-2 in their last 18 games.
Today will be the fourth of seven head-to-head meetings between the Hurricanes and Hitmen this season; Lethbridge has posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Calgary having won the last two matchups. Today’s game can be watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge, on WHL Live or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-02-25 – LET at CGY
VS. HITMEN: Today will be the fourth of seven meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen. Lethbridge has posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Calgary so far this year, having won the last two meetings. Last season, the Hurricanes posted an impressive 7-1-0-0 record. Four of the seven meetings this season will be held at the ENMAX Centre. Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 82-91-0-5 with six ties against Calgary.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
December 17th/2022 – at LET (7-2 CGY)
January 15th/2023 – at CGY (4-1 LET)
February 15th/2023 – at LET (3-0 LET)
February 25th/2023 – at CGY
March 15th/2023 – at CGY
March 17th/2023 – at LET
March 22nd/2023 – at LET
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 1st/2021 – at Lethbridge (9-2 LET)
October 3rd/2021 – at Calgary (4-1 LET)
December 4th/2021 – at Calgary (5-4 OT LET)
December 8th/2021 – at Lethbridge (3-2 SO LET)
January 28th/2022 – at Lethbridge (3-2 OT LET)
February 25th/2022 – at Lethbridge (8-1 CGY)
April 9th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-1 LET)
April 17th/2022 – at Calgary (3-2 OT LET)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (20) – Logan Wormald
Assists (29) – Cole Shepard
Points (48) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (75) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+13) – Chase Pauls
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (2) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.930) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.23) – Bryan Thomson
WHO’S HOT:
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 3 straight games (2g-1a); 4 of 8 games (4g-2a)
– Blake Swetlikoff has points in 2 straight games (3g-2a); 8 of 12 games (7g-7a); 17 of 25 games (12g-16a)
– Anton Astashevich has points in 2 straight games (2a); 3 of 5 games (1g-2a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 4 of 5 games (2g-2a); 5 of 7 games (2g-3a); 6 of 9 games (2g-4a)
– Cole Shepard has points in 6 of 8 games (2g-5a); 10 of 16 games (6g-8a); 35 of 55 games (19g-29a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 6 of 8 games (1g-6a); 9 of 12 games (2g-9a); 11 of 16 games (3g-10a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 5 of 9 games (2g-3a); 12 of 25 games (9g-6a)
– Miguel Marques has points in 2 of 4 games (2a)
– Jett Jones has points in 4 of 7 games (2g-3a); 6 of 13 games (3g-6a); 27 of 45 games (15g-24a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 3 of 6 games (4a); 4 of 8 games (1g-4a); 5 of 10 games (1g-5a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 5 of 10 games (4g-1a); 7 of 14 games (5g-3a); 18 of 29 games (16g-11a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 4 of 11 games (1g-4a); 5 of 13 games (1g-5a)
– Trae Wilke has points in 3 of 10 games (1g-2a); 4 of 12 games (1g-3a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Chase Pauls is 1 game away from 150 career games
– Chase Pauls is 7 points away from 50 career points
– Joe Arntsen is 9 games away from 200 career games
– Anton Astashevich is 1 game away from 100 career games
– Logan Wormald is 22 points away from 100 career points
– Blake Swetlikoff is 2 games away from 150 career games
– Cole Shepard is 3 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 9 points away from 100 career points
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 57: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 30-21-3-3 (66 points) on the season after 57 games. The ‘Canes are 18-9-1-2 at home while posting a record of 12-12-2-1 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 25-28-2-2 after 57 contests. Lethbridge 6-2-3-1 in January and are 4-5-0-1 in February.
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 after scoring his 20th goal of the season on Wednesday against the Calgary Hitmen. It is the first time in Wormald’s career he has reached the 20-goal plateau. Cole Shepard and Jett Jones both have 19 goals while Tyson Laventure has 18 goals on the season. Last year, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters.
Strong PK: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have allowed just 13 power play goals against in their last 25 games having killed 77-of-90 penalties taken in that span for a kill rate of 85.6%. The ‘Canes have not allowed a power play goal against 15 of their last 25 outings. Lethbridge sits 11th in the WHL in penalty kill percentage this season while holding the best home PK in the league.
Of Late: The Hurricanes enter play tonight having posted a 9-6-3-2 record in their last 20 games. Lethbridge has posted a 25-13-3-3 record in their last 45 games – 40-win pace. Lethbridge has gone
16-6-1-2 in their last 25 games on home ice and 9-7-2-1 in their last 19 games away from home.
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 7-1-1-0 record in his last nine decisions with two shutouts. He has a 2.23 GAA and a .930 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 1,388 draws taken, averaging 24.4 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.
