Hurricanes Blank Hitmen 4-0 to Earn Weekend Split
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued opening weekend on Saturday as they earned a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Hurricanes, who fell 5-3 in their home opener on Friday at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena, had a good first period despite being penalized four times. Lethbridge opened the scoring at the 12:40 mark when Shane Smith was sprung out of the penalty box and scored a highlight reel goal as he danced around a Calgary defender before rifling home his first goal of the season to make it 1-0; Nathan Maloney earned the lone assist on the goal for his first WHL point. The Hitmen continued to press with three more power plays, but the Hurricanes penalty stood tall holding the Lethbridge lead through twenty minutes of play. Calgary outshot Lethbridge 12-8 in the first period.
Lethbridge had all the power play chances in the second period as Calgary was penalized on three occasions. The Hurricanes, who carried the play in the middle frame outshooting the Hitmen 15-4, failed to capitalize with the extra man going 0-for-3 in the period. Following the ‘Canes third power play, Lethbridge doubled their lead on a bullet by Smith firing home his second goal of the game at the 14:08 mark to make it 2-0 – for Smith it was his 10th career multi-goal game in his WHL season. The Hurricanes had another great scoring chance right near the end of the period, but Hitmen goaltender Eric Tu made a good save as Lethbridge held a two-goal lead after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes had another power play opportunity just 44-seconds in when overage forward Ethan Moore scooped a puck over the glass. Lethbridge looked to build some insurance on the man advantage, but Tu was strong keeping the game a two-goal contest. After the penalty kill, the Hitmen pressed in hopes of getting on the board and came close on a trio of great chances in a three-minute sequence, but Koen Cleaver was terrific in net for the Hurricanes robbing Caine Wilke on the best look right in front of the net to keep it 2-0. At the midway point of the period, the Hurricanes struck to stretch their lead to three when Luke Cozens sniped his first goal of the season on a two-on-one at the 11:21 mark; Easton Daneault and Will Scott picked up the assists on the goal. Calgary pulled the goaltender, but with 32-seconds left, Cozens added an empty-net goal for his second of the game to seal the 4-0 win; Smith and Logan Wormald were credited with the assists on the goal as Lethbridge earned the victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 12-9 in the third period but led the shots 32-28 in the game. Lethbridge went 0/4 on the power play while Calgary was also 0/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #10 Shane Smith (2 goals, 2 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #30 Koen Cleaver (28-save shutout)
3) ‘Canes – #11 Luke Cozens (2 goals)
The for the Hurricanes was their first of the season as they split the opening weekend against the Hitmen as the road team was victorious in both contests. Lethbridge’s record on the year evened at 1-1-0-0 as they lifted to 1-0-0-0 on the road. The ‘Canes have now won four of their last five trips to Scotiabank Saddledome dating back to the 2025 WHL Playoffs.
Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, September 27th when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades at 7:00pm. 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.
