Hurricanes Blank Rebels; Extend Franchise Long Road Win Streak to Nine
Red Deer, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes extended their franchise record road winning streak to nine-straight games on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over the Red Deer Rebels.
The ‘Canes entered with a 9-1-0-0 record in their last 10 games away from home. Lethbridge made their final trip to Red Deer this season and had a good start to the game. The teams traded scoring chances in the early part of the first period with the best look coming from Kooper Gizowski who was denied by Chase Wutzke to keep the game scoreless. Rebels defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking and the Hurricanes red-hot power play struck twice on the four-minute power play. Lethbridge opened the scoring when Leo Braillard ripped home his team-leading 11th power play goal – and 21st of the season – at the 16:58 mark to make it 1-0; Noah Chadwick and Brayden Yager earned the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes struck on the second of the double-minor with just three seconds remaining in the opportunity as Brayden Edwards tapped home a pass from Braillard for his 21st of the year to make it 2-0; Yager picked up the second assist on the goal as Lethbridge led by two after twenty minutes of play. Shots were even 8-8 in the first period.
Lethbridge had a pair of great chances to open the second period, both coming for Braillard. The second-year import forward was sprung on a breakaway just two-minutes in but wired a wrist shot wide of the net as the game remained 2-0 in favour of the Hurricanes. At the midway point, Braillard had another great opportunity on a one-timer as he wired a slapshot on goal, but Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke slid across to make a great pad save to deny Braillard his second of the night. Late in the period, the Rebels Doogan Pederson was assessed a four-minute high-sticking penalty resulting in yet another four-minute power play which carried over to the third period after the second was scoreless with Lethbridge leading 2-0 after two periods. Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 8-6 in the middle frame.
In the third, the ‘Canes opened with over three-minutes worth of power play time. The Hurricanes added to their lead with another man advantage goal when Yager buried his 20th of the season from the top of the right circle to make it 3-0; Chadwick and Braillard earned the assists on the goal. At the 11:19 mark, Carsen Adair scored for the second straight game as he snapped a shot over the glove of Wutzke to give the Hurricanes a 4-0 lead; Kash Andresen was credited with the lone assist on the goal. Red Deer had a great chance for Nolan Schmidt on a toe-drag to the net on a two-on-one, but Koen Cleaver made a great save to keep it a 4-0 game and that would be the final.
Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 12-11 in the third period and 28-25 in the game. The Hurricanes went 2/5 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #28 Leo Braillard (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #29 Brayden Yager (1 goal, 2 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #30 Koen Cleaver (25-save shutout)
The win for the Hurricanes extended their franchise-best road winning streak to nine-straight games while it matched a team long unbeaten streak on the road. The ‘Canes improved to 10-1-0-0 in their last 11 road games while lifting their road record to 14-11-0-1 on the season. Lethbridge’s overall record improved to 32-16-1-1 on the year while they improved to 6-1-0-0 against Red Deer this season.
The Hurricanes will visit the Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday at 7:00pm at the Scotiabank Saddledome before returning to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday when they welcome the Rebels at 7:00pm in their final meeting of the season. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
